It was a box office moment to ramp up the tensions of a World Cup final.
The All Blacks haka can strike fear into the hearts of opponents, but sometimes the opposition want to present a challenge of their own.
Rewind back to the 2011 World Cup final between New Zealand and France. The game was held at Eden Park in Auckland – home turf for the All Blacks.
It was a New Zealand side littered with legendary names, and is perhaps the most talented collective of Kiwi players in the history of rugby. Ma’a Nonu, Dan Carter, Conrad Smith, Jerome Kaino, the list goes on. They were lining up to face a France side with their own fair share of high quality players, like Imanol Harinordoquy, Morgan Parra and Dimitri Yachvili.
Over 61,000 fans were packed inside the home of New Zealand rugby, ready for the Kiwis to begin the ‘Ka Mate’ rendition of their famed pre-match war dance.
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As iconic scrum-half Piri Weepu kicked off proceedings for the New Zealanders, France, dressed in white tracksuits, took the form of a V-shape and stood hand-in-hand as warriors ready to do battle.
As the guttural cries of Weepu instigated a synchonrised chorus from his teammates, the France players began their challenge. Undeterred by the animalistic bellowing and knee-slapping of the New Zealand players, they strode forward. The broadcast showed a fearless Thierry Dusatoir locked on to his opponents’ glares as they moved closer.
First stopping at the halfway line, France players continued to edge forward, ignoring protocol. As the haka drew to a close, legendary centre Nonu, who is still playing professional rugby today, pointed out an opponent and drew his finger across his neck.
It is sporting theatre from another planet.
Check out the footage below.
HAKA VIDEO
The teams went on to play an extremely tight Test match with limited space for line breaks. The game was eventually decided by a penalty kick from the boot of Stephen Donald, with the final score 8-7 to New Zealand.
82 million people have watched this video on YouTube, which makes it the most-watched rugby video (non-YouTube Short) ever on the platform.
Eight years later at the 2019 World Cup in Japan, England would replicate France’s challenge. They would form a V-shape in challenge of the haka, only a reversed V when compared to the France one. There is a now-iconic clip of Owen Farrell, who was at the centre of the V-shape, smiling menacingly at the All Blacks. England would go on to beat them and reach the final against South Africa.
