All Blacks Haka: Why teams are no longer allowed to go forward : Planet Rugby

Gone are the days of teams facing the Haka All Blacks and hanging out with the New Zealanders in a cultural test, but why is that?

The horrifying image of Sébastien Chabal and his French team-mates staring at Haka before the quarter-finals of the 2007 Rugby World Cup is etched in the memory of many fans.

Meanwhile, many remember how Kobus Wiese challenged the Springboks All black to the 1995 Rugby World Cup, and the same goes for England fans and Richard Cockerill looking for Norm Hewitt two years later.

For Irish fans, Willie Anderson will always be synonymous with the greatest response to the Haka, while Tongans and Samoans in particular will remember the epic cultural challenges performed simultaneously in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Why don’t teams advance to Hack anymore

However, all of these examples are more than a decade or two old, and for a reason. World Rugby normative acts.

In 2021, a video of Samoa and Tonga doing their cultural tasks ahead of their Rugby World Cup clash went viral as the two sides faced players just meters apart – if that – but that’s impossible in rugby union.

That’s because World Rugby doesn’t allow it, restricting teams to their halves when doing cultural tasks.

This is explained in the World Rugby Match Commissioners Program Manual, which clearly states that the non-challenging team can cross the halfway line, while the opposition cannot cross their 10-metre line.

“If only one team is making a challenge, no player from the challenging team may cross their own 10-meter line, and no player from the receiving team may cross the halfway line,” the manual states.

If teams do not follow the rules, as was the case in the 2019 World Cup semi-final when Joe Marler and his England team-mates went beyond the touchline, they can be fined by rugby’s governing body – In this case, England was fined 2,000 pounds.

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These rules apply not only to the All Blacks haka, but also to Siwa Tua Samoa, Sipi Tau Tonga and Sibi Fiji.

As noted by New Zealand writer Jamie Wall, these rules are in place for a rather “soft” reason, so that broadcasters and photographers can better visualize the problem.

Continuation of the article below…

It’s probably worth reminding people (again) why WR a has a rule about teams advancing on the hack, and it’s a pretty lame reason: so they can get that image/camera angle to post/broadcast. pic.twitter.com/zpzA91v7wQ

— Jamie Wall (@JamieWall2) October 30, 2024

Many believe that cultural challenges should not be performed before matches because teams are forced to “entertain it”, but this is not the case, as the manual adds: “The team receiving the challenge is not bound by it.”

Ahead of one of the 1996 Bledisloe Cup Tests, Australia decided to continue the warm-up while the All Blacks performed the Haka, a decision Wallabies captain John Eales said he regretted, while former winger David Campese did the same in 1991.

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In the event that two teams wish to compete, which is the case when two teams from New Zealand, Samoa, Fiji and Tonga meet, there must be at least 10 meters between them.

“When both teams are in action, one team cannot cross half-way and the other team cannot cross their own 10-metre line, so the teams are always separated by at least ten metres,” according to World Rugby’s official website.

Contemporary responses to cultural challenges

Although the laws currently prevent teams from advancing to cultural challenges, opposing teams have devised alternative ways to respond.

England formed a V-shape in 2019 but simply did it too close to the All Blacks, resulting in their penalty. In 2008, however, Wales simply stared at the Haka and refused to be the first team to break eye contact and move on after completion.

The Wallabies have formed a boomerang formation in recent years, while Ireland have paid tribute to the late Anthony Foley by forming an eight.