John Eales celebrates his last game of rugby for Australia with a 29-26 win over the All Blacks. Photo/Getty Images
John Eales celebrates his last game of rugby for Australia with a 29-26 win over the All Blacks. Photo/Getty Images
Former Wallabies captain John Eales claims opposition teams need to defuse the All Blacks haka by reclaiming the moments before kick-off.
Eales played 55 tests for Australia from 1991-2001, leading them to World Cup victory in 1999. He faced New Zealand 20 times during his career - 11 of them as captain - and enjoyed winning records in both capacities.
But he still regrets the two tests in 1996, when he instructed his team to turn their backs on the All Blacks haka. Eales addresses those incidents in a Discovery Channel documentary entitled "John Eales Reveals: The Haka", screening 7pm tomorrow.
"It really polarised people," Eales told Newstalk ZB's Tony Veitch. "Some people - Australians and New Zealanders - said it was a disgrace to turn our backs on that history, that we weren't brave enough as Australians.
"Other people said 'good on you, you don't have to let them dictate what you do in response'.
"I wanted to go on this journey, and learn a bit more to make up my own mind whether it was right or wrong, what we did that day."
On the first occasion, the Wallabies suffered a 43-6 hiding, acknowledged as one of the greatest-ever All Black performances in horrible conditions at Wellington's Athletic Park. Three weeks later, the Aussies were desperately unlucky to lose the rematch in Brisbane.
"People often ask me about the haka and I do regret not facing the haka at this time."
While filming the documentary, Eales, 47, was guided through his cultural journey by former All Blacks captain Wayne Shelford, who really rekindled the haka during the late 1980s.
Adam Coleman of the Wallabies watches the haka before the Bledisloe Cup match against New Zealand. Photo/Getty Images
Now, Eales feels he understands why it holds such a sacred place in Kiwi sporting lore.
"I never felt it gave [the All Blacks] an unfair advantage, but it did let them own those moments before kick-off and we were basically just passively taking it," he reflected.
"The true value of the haka is in connection, and as the opposition, you need to decide how you are going to connect and not dissipate as a team in that moment."
Later in Eales' career, under coach Rod McQueen, the Wallabies decided to face the haka in their tracksuits and then huddle together afterwards to refocus.
"We turned it around," he said. "We respected the haka, but went back to owning those last few minutes before the kick-off.
"It didn't mean the other team couldn't do something as well, but that was how we turned the focus back to us and reconnected as a team before kick-off."
For a while, Aussie singer John Williamson would also lead home crowds in a few verses of "Waltzing Matilda" in answer to the haka.
"That really engaged the crowd and got them singing," said Eales. "But I'm not sure everyone identifies with 'Waltzing Matilda' like they would with a haka on a true meaning perspective.
"They identified it as an Australian song, although I don't know that it's a great Australian song as far as the messages in it."
While critics claim the haka has been overdone in recent years, Eales doesn't necessarily buy into that view. Most New Zealand national sporting teams have incorporated the ritual into their pre-game routines, and even Super Rugby franchises composed and performed their own haka when they face the British & Irish Lions.
"There's no quota for it," insisted Eales. "You can't say only these teams can do it, how many times they can do it and where ... it's difficult to be precise on those issues.
"As long as it means something, then it gives the team the opportunity to connect and not only connect with the team, but also with their fans, their people.
"If it means something, it will do that ... if it means nothing, it won't do that, and it's a waste of time and space."
