Ireland v New Zealand: A tale of seven Ireland related hakas
The drama always starts before kick-off when the All Blacks are playing because of the haka. Here we take a look at some of the most eye-catching challenges made by Ireland, on Irish soil and by an Irish province to it
18 November, 1989 - Ireland v All Blacks, Lansdowne Road
The image of Willie Anderson practically dragging the Ireland team forward to go practically nose to nose with the All Blacks skipper Wayne 'Buck' Shelford and his team-mates is burned into the memory of those who remember that era. Ireland lost 23-6. Eighteen years later, in a World Cup quarter-final, France did something similar in a thrilling face-off.
“I always said that we won the dance but lost the match," said Anderson later, crediting Jimmy Davidson with the idea. "You have to not only match them in the haka, you have to go toe to toe the whole way. And the atmosphere was …if you could have bottled it, you would have made a fortune.”
Recalling the moment many years later, Shelford exclaimed: “He nearly kissed me!”
18 November, 2008 Munster v All Blacks, Thomond Park
Badly burned by the Reds in 1978, New Zealand selected a strong side for what was a midweek encounter at Thomond Park. Munster, who were crowned Heineken Cup champs for the second time five months earlier, were without 10 internationals but a battle royal ensued to live long in the memory - as did the haka performed by Munster's Kiwi quartet that night.
Doug Howlett - who had so often performed it with the All Blacks - as well as Rua Tipoki, Lifeimi Mafi and Jeremy Manning offered an emotional haka of their own and the crowd in Limerick responded in kind. Munster only went down by two points in the game, losing 18-16.
October 27, 1991 - Australia v New Zealand, Lansdowne Road
Obviously not a game involving an Ireland team or an Irish province but it did take place in Dublin. And, while David Campese made headlines for scoring a try and making another for the Wallabies to knock the reigning champions out at the semi-final stage, he also gained fame for his challenge to the haka, which was simple and effective.
The brilliant winger didn't face the haka at all - instead, he ignored it completely by practising his kicking close to his team's goal line.
5 November, 2016 - Ireland v New Zealand, Soldier Field; 12 November, 2016 - Munster v Maori All Blacks, Thomond Park
Emotions can run high when the haka is offered but Ireland were fuelled by their grief. Munster and Ireland great Anthony Foley passed away only three weeks previously and the squad was profoundly affected, given how so many of those in it had played with, against or for Axel.
It was decided in the days before the game to form a figure of 8 during the haka in tribute to the former No.8. "We wanted to give something back to him and the family," said CJ Stander.
"He meant a lot to me and was really the rock in my rugby development these last four years. Showed me what he learned over the years. He pushed me to the next level. I just think of what man he was, the legend he was." Ireland beat the All Blacks for the first time that day.
Six days later, the Maori All Blacks came to Limerick and they paid tribute to Foley during the haka, placing a jersey with the letters AF on the back on the halfway line. When the haka was over, the jersey was presented by Ash Dixon to Axel's two sons, Tony and Dan.
13 November, 2021 - Ireland v New Zealand, Lansdowne Road
There was also plenty of emotion on show in Dublin 4 when the All Blacks returned for their first meeting with Ireland since demolishing Joe Schmidt's side at the 2019 World Cup in Tokyo.
And so when the All Blacks started the haka, the sound of resistance slowly began to build across the Aviva Stadium stands in the form of 'The Fields of Athenry' so that by the end of it, the home crowd had turned the volume up high. Ireland went on to win 29-20.
14 October, 2023 - Ireland v New Zealand, Stade de France
This World Cup quarter-final meeting took place two days before the seventh anniversary of Anthony Foley's passing in Paris and the Ireland players used the occasion to reprise their figure of 8 tribute to Axel.
The All Blacks went on to win a tight, thrilling last eight encounter and afterwards Peter O'Mahony explained the reason for the figure of 8.
"Yeah, look, it was funny myself and Johnny (Sexton) had a conversation about it," said O'Mahony. "I think it was on the way to the South African game, actually, about sometimes it is weird to be in Paris and to think about Axel and what happened. It certainly is an incredibly sad memory, particularly for that Munster team who were in Paris that week.
Axel is always somebody who is certainly in my head on a very regular basis and when you come to Paris he certainly comes to mind. I’ve the fondest memories that we had together and the amount of inspiration he gave, not just to me, but to lots of young kids in Munster and Ireland. As I said, very fond memories.”
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