Kapa O Pango – the All Blacks’ own haka / Ka mate

In August 2005, before the Philips Tri Nations Test match against South Africa at Carisbrook, the All Blacks performed for the first time ‘Kapa O Pango’, a new haka for and about the All Blacks.

Haka is the generic term for all Maori dance. Today, haka is defined as that part of the Maori dance repertoire where the men are in the front.

A year in the making, Kapa O Pango was written for the team by Derek Lardelli, an expert in tikanga Maori (Maori culture and customs) of the Ngati Porou iwi. Its words and actions celebrate the land of New Zealand, the silver fern and its warriors in black. The name might be translated simply as ‘team in black’.

Imagine looking at the team on the other side of the court performing this before a match!