The most embarrassing All Blacks haka

Before battling for the Rugby World Cup this weekend the Wallabies will have to face the haka, the All Blacks’ fierce Maori war dance, which, as it turns out, hasn’t always been so fierce.

The haka is now one of the great spectacles of world rugby with the All Blacks having developed it from humble origins prior to the intervention of Wayne ‘Buck’ Shelford in the 1980s.

Footage of the haka in the 1970s is embarrassing, with poor timing, timid actions and some All Blacks even looking to teammates mid-performance for guidance.

That all changed with Shelford, a proud Maori, who made the All Blacks practice the haka and treat it with the necessary respect.

In 1987, the All Blacks performed the haka in New Zealand for the first time, at the inaugural World Cup, having previously only done it before matches overseas.

From Shelford’s time as leader, the All Blacks went from strength-to-strength with Ka Mate until a new haka, Kapa O Pango, was written specifically for the team.

The new haka was performed for the first time in 2005 but caused controversy with a confrontational throat-slitting gesture.

The All Blacks removed the gesture and reserve Kapa O Pango for only the biggest Tests.

While the development of the haka will be of no consequence to the Wallabies, how they face it on Sunday morning (AEDT) at Twickenham prior to the final will be.

Many different approaches have been tried by teams over the years, with Wallabies great David Campese preferring to ignore it and play with a ball at the other end of the field.

Others, including the French famously before the 2011 World Cup final, have advanced on the men in black.