Herald on Sunday editorial: All Blacks off balance by the haka

Evidence is emerging to suggest the haka could be an emotional hindrance to the All Blacks. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Opinion

It has always been assumed that performing the haka before a match gives the All Blacks a distinct advantage. Why, after all, would so many opposition teams go to such lengths to counter it if this were not the case? So much for assumptions. As Gregor Paul reveals today, the haka may actually be helping the All Blacks' opponents. How else to explain the slow starts that have been one of the team's supporters' very few bugbears in recent times?

Emerging evidence suggests the haka is more of an emotional hindrance to the All Blacks than an effective means of intimidating the opposition. The intensity associated with it is upsetting all other efforts to get the players focused at kick-off. The outcome is that in four of their last six tests, the All Blacks have conceded the opening points, each time within the first five minutes.

Coach Steve Hansen is well aware of the problem. He talks of the team being either over-aroused or under-aroused. There is talk in the All Black camp of some players taking time to become focused after the haka. Could all this be an unfortunate side-effect of the revival of the ritual begun by Wayne Shelford in the late 1980s? A practice that had degenerated into something resembling a disco dance has become a source of pride for the players and their fans. All Black teams now devote considerable time to practising the haka, and a new version, Kapa o Pango, was composed to complement Ka Mate.

Performing the haka is, therefore, a matter of far greater vigour and vehemence for the players. That state of mind may be heightened further by the responses of opposition teams. Many methods have been used to try to limit the intimidatory factor. The Wallabies once ignored it, English hooker Richard Cockerill went toe to toe with his opposite, Norm Hewitt, and the 1989 Irish team linked arms and walked defiantly towards the All Blacks as they performed the haka. France did something similar before the 2011 World Cup final. It cost it $16,000 because some of the French players advanced beyond the halfway line, but that was probably money well spent. The All Blacks, as has become customary, started slowly.

If such tactics have thrown the All Blacks off balance and if the performance of the haka causes the players to lose focus, the rational response would be to dispense with it. That might suit the coaching staff. But it is difficult to think of anyone else. The players, perhaps most of all, regard the haka seriously. Compare their approach with the attitude of some competitors at Olympic and Commonwealth Games who have performed it poorly and far too frequently.

The drama of the challenge also continues to be valued worldwide by most spectators and most teams. The players, by treating the haka respectfully, have ensured the ritual is still appreciated despite a big increase in the number of tests. Now, it is the leading expression of this country's unique heritage. The All Blacks may, unwittingly, have become victims of their own enthusiasm for the haka. But slow starts can be remedied, as demonstrated last weekend against England. That, not the place of the haka, is the challenge for the coaching staff.