The All Blacks haka is one of the most recognisable rituals in world sport. Before every test match, New Zealand's rugby union team performs a traditional Maori challenge on the field, facing their opponents, stamping and calling in unison. It lasts between one and two minutes. The opposing team stands at least ten metres away and waits for it to finish before play begins.
People who have seen it live tend to say the same thing: video does not prepare you for it.
The All Blacks have performed the haka since their first tour of Britain in 1905. Two versions are now used: Ka Mate, the original, and Kapa O Pango, created specifically for the All Blacks in 2005.
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What Is the Haka?
The haka is a traditional Maori performance combining fierce movement, rhythmic stamping, tongue protrusions, wide eyes and spoken or chanted words. It exists in many forms across different iwi (Maori tribes) in New Zealand, performed at celebrations, funerals, welcomes and challenges. The version used by the All Blacks is a peruperu, historically performed before battle as a statement of strength and resolve.
It is sometimes described in sports commentary as simply a war dance. That framing strips away most of its meaning. The haka is a statement of identity. When the All Blacks perform it, they are telling the opposition who they are, where they come from, and that they are ready for what follows.
How the All Blacks Adopted the Haka
The first All Blacks tour of Britain and Ireland took place in 1905. The touring party, later known as the Originals, played 35 matches, won 34 and drew one. They performed Ka Mate before matches throughout the tour, introducing the haka to European rugby audiences for the first time.
British crowds found it fascinating. Photographs from the 1905 tour show the All Blacks mid-performance on English grounds, a novelty to Edwardian spectators. Over the following decades the haka became a fixed part of All Blacks test matches, and by the later twentieth century it had become one of the defining images of the game globally.
Ka Mate: The Original All Blacks Haka
Ka Mate was composed by Te Rauparaha, a chief of the Ngati Toa tribe, around 1820. The story behind it is vivid. Te Rauparaha was hiding in a food storage pit, sheltered by a friendly chief named Te Wharerangi while enemies searched for him above. He did not know if he would survive. When Te Wharerangi lifted the hatch and Te Rauparaha emerged alive into daylight, he composed Ka Mate on the spot as an expression of relief at surviving and moving from the fear of death into life.
The words translate roughly as moving from death into life, emerging into sunlight after hiding in darkness. The opening lines, Ka Mate, Ka Mate, Ka Ora, Ka Ora, translate directly as "'tis death, 'tis death, 'tis life, 'tis life." The performance includes stomping feet, slapping thighs, protruding tongue, wide eyes and synchronised movement throughout the squad. The leader calls and the group responds.
Ka Mate has been the All Blacks standard haka since 1905. In 2009, the New Zealand government formally transferred the rights to Ka Mate to the Ngati Toa tribe, acknowledging their cultural ownership of the composition.
Kapa O Pango: Written Specifically for the All Blacks
In 2005, for the centenary of the All Blacks' first overseas tour, the team commissioned a haka written specifically for them. Kapa O Pango, which translates as "let me become one with the land," was composed by Derek Lardelli of the Ngati Porou tribe.
Where Ka Mate is a haka of individual survival, Kapa O Pango is collective. It was written in the first person plural throughout. It is about the All Blacks as a unit, the black jersey, the silver fern, the land of New Zealand, and the identity of every player who wears the shirt. Ka Mate was composed two centuries earlier with no particular team in mind. Kapa O Pango was written about this squad, for this squad.
The performance ends with a gesture that caused controversy when it first appeared: a slow drawing of the hand across the throat. The All Blacks and New Zealand Rugby explained that the gesture represents drawing vital energy into the heart, not what it appears to mean to a Western audience. The controversy largely faded over time, though it surfaces occasionally in international rugby discussions.
Kapa O Pango is typically performed for significant test matches, particularly against traditional rivals. Ka Mate continues to be used regularly, and the choice between them is made by team leadership.
What Happens Before a Test Match
The protocol for the haka in test matches has become formalised over time. The opposing team must stand at least ten metres from the All Blacks during the performance. They cannot advance on it. After it finishes, play proceeds.
For players facing the All Blacks for the first time, the haka is one of the most discussed topics in pre-match preparation. Coaches spend time addressing where their squad will stand, how they will hold themselves, and where they will look. The goal is composure rather than being visibly unsettled. Players who have faced the haka across multiple test series describe the experience as different every time, depending on the occasion and what is at stake.
Memorable Haka Moments and Controversies
The haka has generated some of the most discussed moments in international rugby outside the matches themselves.
In 1989, France formed a V-shape and advanced toward the All Blacks during the performance. No one was sanctioned at the time, but the moment was debated for years. In 2016, Ireland stood their ground in a way widely read as a deliberate response, holding formation rather than retreating to the required distance. The Irish Rugby Football Union was fined by World Rugby, but the Irish players were praised at home for their composure.
In 2008, the Welsh squad linked arms and stood motionless as the haka was performed in Cardiff. Coach Warren Gatland later confirmed the players had prepared specifically for that moment. The image of the Welsh players connected and still became one of the more recognisable photographs from that year's autumn series.
The 2011 Rugby World Cup final at Eden Park produced perhaps the most intense haka setting of the modern era. New Zealand, playing on home soil in front of a packed stadium, performed Ka Mate knowing that a win would end a 24-year wait for a home World Cup. France stood and watched. New Zealand won 8-7.
Other New Zealand Teams and Their Hakas
The All Blacks are the most well-known, but they are not the only New Zealand team that performs a haka before matches. The Black Ferns (women's rugby), Maori All Blacks, New Zealand Sevens, Tall Blacks (basketball), Ice Blacks (ice hockey) and the White Ferns (women's cricket) all perform hakas.
The Maori All Blacks perform their own haka specific to their team. When they take the field, the performance carries additional weight, representing a direct connection between the indigenous people of New Zealand and the modern game. The Maori All Blacks haka is considered one of the more powerful versions performed in any sport.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the name of the All Blacks haka?
The All Blacks use two hakas: Ka Mate, performed since the 1905 tour of Britain, and Kapa O Pango, commissioned in 2005. Ka Mate is the more widely recognised of the two.
What do the words of Ka Mate mean?
Ka Mate was composed around 1820 by Maori chief Te Rauparaha after surviving an attempt on his life by hiding in a food storage pit. The words describe moving from fear of death to the joy of survival, emerging into sunlight. Ka Mate and Ka Ora translate directly as ’tis death and ’tis life.
Why do the All Blacks perform the haka?
The haka is a traditional Maori challenge that the All Blacks have performed since 1905. It serves as a statement of collective identity, a challenge to the opposition, and a way of bringing the squad together before a test match.
Can opposing teams respond to the haka?
Opposing teams are required to stand at least ten metres away during the haka and cannot advance on it. Some teams have responded by linking arms, standing motionless, or forming deliberate shapes. World Rugby has fined teams that crossed the distance boundary.
What is the difference between Ka Mate and Kapa O Pango?
Ka Mate was composed by a Maori chief in 1820 and is about individual survival, moving from death into life. Kapa O Pango was written in 2005 specifically for the All Blacks and is about the collective identity of the squad and the black jersey. Ka Mate is the original and more widely known haka. Kapa O Pango tends to be reserved for the most significant test matches.
More in the rugby cluster: For the full story of New Zealand rugby, the All Blacks’ history and World Cup wins, see Rugby in New Zealand. For the complete overview of which countries love rugby most, see our rugby countries guide.
