Unaware of the row going on in the bowels of the stadium, the 72,500 crowd booed when they had to settle for the war dance being performed in the privacy of the visitors’ dressing room — and shown on the big screen. “We took advice from Maori chiefs before last year’s game and were assured that the haka was performed to invite a response from the opposing team,” said the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) last night in a press handout entitled “Right to Respond” that explained their position immediately after the kick-off.
“This year, the NZRU were informed in meetings prior to today’s fixture that the formal response from the Wales team and the Welsh nation would be the Welsh anthem Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau (Land of My Fathers),” the statement added.
The WRU said they had been informed by a top Maori expert and cultural adviser that the haka is performed to invite a response.
The Welsh were advised to stand strong in front of the All Blacks, be defiant, eyeball them, and sing it in a way that says, “this is us, this is who we are, we are the Tangata Whenua”, which means the traditional owners and protectors of the land.
The statement added that the WRU “were saddened” to learn that the All Blacks had decided not to perform the haka.
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The 2006 version of this New Zealand outfit may well be on their way to becoming one of the greatest rugby sides, but their insistence on putting the haka on such a lofty pedestal is unlikely to win them many friends.
The war dance may have become a cherished rugby tradition, one that is eagerly anticipated by fans around the world, but in the past it was only performed at the invitation of the host union.
It wasn’t until the advent of the Maori No 8 Wayne Shelford in the 1980s that the haka changed from something like a scruffy Morris dance into its current souped-up version.
The only problem for the home side was that when the real action started the Welsh were taken apart by a vastly superior side.
Richie McCaw’s men imposed their will in the battle for possession, disrupting the Welsh scrummage, and having a field day at the breakdown, which saw the All Blacks win four crucial first-half turnovers, two of which led either directly or indirectly to tries.
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The All Blacks tried to put a positive spin on their haka no-show. “The tradition needs to be honoured properly,” said McCaw, the New Zealand captain. “If the other teams want to mess around, we will just do the haka in the shed. At the end of the day, haka is about spiritual preparation, and we do it for ourselves.
“Traditionally, fans can share the experience, and it’s sad they could not see it today.”
Team manager Darren Shand tried to offer a historical perspective — even though it is one which many will take issue with.
“There is a tradition that has built over a hundred years,” Shand said. “It is respected around the world, and we ask for the WRU to do the same.
“It will be a sad day for fans everywhere.”
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The only problem was that, haka or no haka, Wales did not manage to front up, despite holding a number of trump cards against their highly-ranked opponents.
Gareth Jenkins’ side had the ideal build-up, arriving as the fresher team — a handful of key All Blacks such as McCaw and Carl Hayman were playing their fourth Test in 20 days — after games against the Pacific Islands and Canada.
Not only that, but they had the benefit of a forensic dissection of the All Black gameplan in their victories over England and the French. Little good it did them against the red-hot World Cup favourites.
Jenkins said that he believed that he had a Welsh team that could match New Zealand for power, pace and fitness, a belief echoed by No 8 Ryan Jones.
That assertion was utterly disproved, as the New Zealand pack set about the Welsh forwards with sustained ferocity, establishing an unassailable 28-3 half-time lead, but, even more damaging, leaving the home side with a wrecked platform yesterday.
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At the scrum, Adam Jones was unable to keep Neemia Tialata in check, and on their own put-in at a scrum five metres from the All Black line, they squandered an early scoring opportunity by being whipped round like a spinning wheel.
The ledger at the end of the first quarter said it all — and it made grim reading for Welsh fans at the Millennium stadium.
A missed tackle by Tom Shanklin had opened the door for Luke McAlister’s opening try, two of their scrums had been badly disrupted, they had lost a lineout, conceded two turnovers, kicked twice straight to the New Zealanders’ back three, and Jenkins’ side had nobody capable of breaching the New Zealand gain-line with any regularity.
In fact, apart from the splendid lineout drive which saw the home open-side flanker Martyn Williams score the only Welsh try with an hour played, the only turbo-charged display we saw was a car flying two Welsh flags ripping up the Millennium stadium turf after the match was over, to advertise next month’s Wales Rally.
Hopes were high that Wales would at least give New Zealand a full-throttle challenge at the breakdown. Again, they were totally outplayed by a superb New Zealand side that not only showed kamikaze commitment, but also hit the tackle earlier and lower and harder, and was much smarter when it came to pilfering.
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It is a sad indictment of Welsh confidence that a barbed newspaper column, calling Wales the village idiots of international rugby, caused such a stir going into this match.
To be fair, Wales were never idiots here; however, they were outclassed and this performance proved that they are not as near the top of the tree as we believed before this trouncing.