Big Read: What it means to be an All Black

The All Blacks lining up during the national anthem. Photo / Photosport

By Gregor Paul in Paris

For years individual All Blacks have spoken about their pride in the jersey and been clear about what they were prepared to do to wear it.

The stories of sacrifice are legendary, the commitment to the cause beyond question. Yet for all the emotion connected with the jersey and all the desire to wear it, there has been no unified sense of what it means and represents.

Being an All Black has meant so many different things to so many people and while virtually everyone who has played for the national side has been aware of the significant history attached to the team, there hasn't previously been a defined sense of national identity tied up in the team's culture.

This was the conclusion reached by former coach Graham Henry and his assistants Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen when they took over running the team.

What drove that home was a difficult day New Zealand rugby endured at Ellis Park in 2004. Not only were the All Blacks well beaten by the Springboks, but they came away from Johannesburg with a sense they were missing something.

The Boks had lifted emotionally that day and the All Blacks coaches felt that had much to do with President Nelson Mandela being in the stands.

The presence of Madiba had been a powerful, galvanising force, and seemingly the Boks and the 55,000 fans at Ellis Park, had a defined and clear sense of national identity. South Africans appeared to know who they were and what the Rainbow Nation was all about.

The All Blacks coaching panel wanted something similar. They wanted to instil a unified understanding of what being an All Black meant and use that full weight of history and the legacy of the jersey to guide, inspire and bind.

Richie McCaw lifts the Webb Ellis Trophy after winning the Rugby World Cup Final. Photo / Photosport

That process began 13 years ago, but stepped up in early 2015 when Hansen decided that if his side were to win a consecutive World Cup, they would need a greater appreciation of themselves, who they were and what exactly they were representing.

"We really challenged ourselves prior to 2015 to identify who we were because we used to talk about it all the time," says Hansen.

"So we asked the question what is it [our identity] - who are we? As a result of that we worked out that we weren't really that sure. We spent a lot of time putting some stuff together and challenge ourselves to ask some questions.

"And really you know it is our history and what that history has chucked that up over the years and who we want to be.

"When you are asking to identity yourself as an All Black you have to go really specific because not every New Zealander is going to play for the All Blacks. So you are actually representing the people that have and all the people that are supporting you.

"What it is we are identifying with has to come from our past and that includes good, bad and indifferent. It is so interwoven with being a New Zealander, you can't really separate it.

"You can then look at other great New Zealanders and even some poor ones and ask if we are going to be like that. It is an opportunity to enhance what has gone before us. I think we are very clear."

The reason Hansen is adamant the players are clear about identity and what it means to play for the All Blacks is because management make it that way.

One of the key virtues Hansen has instilled in his players is gratitude - to respect and cherish the opportunity they have been given. And to feel like that, the players need to know the scale of the privilege they have been afforded.

"Nothing is assumed and we have an induction-type process that we do with all the new guys and there are various ways we do that without going into it," says Hansen.

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen. Photo / Brett Phibbs

The process doesn't end with an induction, however. It is on-going, a key part of personal development because the value of individuals having a deep and powerful emotional connection with the legacy is invaluable in big tests.

A big part of the current climate is helping players understand how their personal history intertwines with the team's legacy.

"I think if you go ask a young child in New Zealand who plays rugby, nine times out of 10 they are going to say they want to be an All Black," says lock Luke Romano.

"From the time you are a young bloke, to when you are in your 20s you want to be an All Black. It is no different for me or any other guy in this team. When you put on that All Blacks jersey it is something you have been chasing for 20 years and you don't think you are ever going to get there.

"But you have got there and that just shows what it means to New Zealanders because there is that history in that jersey and that want to get there and not everyone gets there. So that is what makes it so special - when you get the jersey it is a chance to play a test for your country and you don't want to let the jersey down. It has so much history and so much winning culture that you don't want to be the one that inflicts a loss on it. "They are the big driving factors...it is not just a bit of black cloth with a silver fern on it."

For team-mate Dane Coles, the question of identity has been one that has been pushed to near the front of his mind since he made the squad in 2012. It was maybe not something he had considered prior to making the team, but he understands now that the more the team understands themselves, the better they are likely to play.

"We know our identity," he says. "Who has worn this jersey what they have done in it and all the people who have worn it before us. You learn you are only a caretaker of the jersey. You don't own it. You try to leave it in a better place than it was before you wore it.

"It is huge because it is about identity, what you play for and what this team represents. I think you are not going to learn all that on your first tour.

"There is a lot of blood, sweat and tears shed for this jersey before we got it. It is about not taking it for granted."

Luke Romano in action for the All Blacks. Photo / Getty Images

Of all the games the All Blacks have played this year, none have brought to the fore so pertinently the question of national identity.

A test on Armistice Day, in the country where hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders gave their lives in two World Wars, creates an emotional backdrop.

Adding to that is the fact that it is 100 years since Originals captain Dave Gallagher was killed in action in World War One. This test, more than most, has asked the All Blacks to think deeply about who they are.

"I think it is because it is easy to tell that story because it is in your face," says Hansen. "And it is in our face because on your jersey is a poppy and the first question you have is why? What is the poppy. Why the poppy? Because the first thing that grew on the battlefields was poppys and a lot of New Zealanders were killed on those battlefields. And that is significant because if you are going to be true to your identity you are going to know that, you are going to know your history."

And the All Blacks have been determined to make sure that all of the squad understand the significance history will play in this morning's test. As much as they have spent time trying to analyse a young and relatively unknown French team, so too have they been collectively learning about Gallagher, the Originals, the First World War and how all this is tied into the legacy of the All Blacks.

"It has been talked about and pretty much where the All Blacks started was with the originals, with Dave Gallagher," says Romano. "He was All Blacks captain of the Originals and he and 13 of his mates died here at Paschendale. It is 100 years since it happened and that is certainly a big factor for us to do that jersey pride. Because they wore that jersey with pride as we do now and what they gave up for their country, they made the ultimate sacrifice. They gave up their life to make sure we could have freedom.

"It is a special moment to have the poppy on ours sleeve which is obviously the first plant that grew after the battle, it will certainly be a big occasion that we have talked about as a team and all the boys are aware of."

The journey of discovery will never end for the All Blacks but they have travelled deep within themselves since 2004 to find out who they are.

There is no longer a missing piece in their make-up; no longer any knowledge gap where they don't know what it means to be an All Black or to be a New Zealander.