Before a rugby game, New Zealand’s All Blacks perform a haka while their opponents stand facing them. This traditional Maori practice goes back hundreds of years. Its connection with rugby began in 1884, when a New Zealand team performed it during a visit to Australia.
The All Blacks have different haka. Ka Mate expresses ideas about life, death, and the strength to continue through difficulties. Today, the team more commonly performs Kapa o Pango, which it first presented in 2005. New Zealand is not alone in having a traditional pregame challenge: Fiji performs the Cibi, Samoa the Siva Tau, and Tonga the Sipi Tau. These performances combine voices with coordinated body movements.
There are rules about where teams can stand during these cultural challenges. A team facing a single challenge cannot move beyond the halfway line, which divides the field into two halves. Teams can receive fines for breaking the rules. The rules therefore place limits on how close opponents can move toward the performers.
