All Blacks Sam Cane and Ben Smith say it would be odd not to do a haka before a match after suggestions from past players that the pre-match ritual be performed less.
Former All Blacks Kees Meeuws, Sir Colin Meads and Andrew Mehrtens called for the haka to be performed less in The Jersey, a book by UK writer Peter Bills.
However, Cane revealed to media in Sydney today that the All Blacks had been told former prop Meeuws had been misquoted.
“The only article I’ve seen on it was around Kees Meeuws and we’ve been informed that unfortunately he was misquoted so that’s a shame,” Cane said.
Smith and Cane said the modern-day All Blacks treasured doing the haka before every match despite the number of Tests increasing.
“It’s a massive privilege to be able to do the haka and it would be odd if we weren’t to do that before a game,” Smith said.
“We love doing the haka, we do a light run through at captain’s run and then we bust it out on Saturday and it’s sort of like the final touches of we’re ready to go,” Cane said.
“We’re well aware of the strong history it has and it’s part of who we are as All Blacks, it’s as strong and powerful as ever in my opinion.”
Up until 1987, the All Blacks had only done the haka before Test matches outside New Zealand.
SHARE ME