 | ||
| Union | NZRU | |
|---|---|---|
| Emblem(s) | Silver fern | |
| Coach(es) | Ross Filipo[1] | |
| Captain(s) | Billy Harmon/Rameka Poihipi[2] | |
| ||
| First match | ||
 Hawke's Bay 0–5New Zealand Natives(23 June 1888) | ||
| Largest win | ||
 British Columbia 3–111New Zealand Māori(9 June 2004) | ||
| Largest defeat | ||
New Zealand Maoris 0–37South Africa  (25 August 1956) | ||
| Official website | ||
| www | ||
TheMāori All Blacks, previously called theNew Zealand Maori,New Zealand Maoris andNew Zealand Natives, are arugby union team from New Zealand. They are a representative team of theNew Zealand Rugby Union, and a prerequisite for playing is that the player hasMāoriwhakapapa (genealogy). In the past this rule was not strictly applied; non–Māori players who looked Māori were often selected in the team. These included a few Pacific island players and a couple ofAfrican descent. Today all players have their ancestry verified before selection in the team.
The team's first match was in 1888 againstHawke's Bay. This was followed by a tour of Europe in 1888 and 1889 where the team played their first games against national teams, beatingIreland inDublin before losing toWales andEngland. Their early uniforms consisted of a black jersey with a silver fern and white knickerbockers. The New Zealand Māori perform a haka—a Māori challenge or posture dance—before each match. The haka was later adopted by the New Zealand national team, theAll Blacks, as were their black shirts. In 2001, the Māori first performed the "Timatanga"haka, which describes the evolution of life and the creation of New Zealand from the four winds.
Since being given official status in 1910, the New Zealand Māori have selected some of rugby union's great players, including fullbackGeorge Nēpia who played 46 games forNew Zealand from 1924 to 1930, halfbackSid Going who played 86 matches for his country and former New Zealand captainTane Norton, who represented New Zealand in 61 games, including 27 tests, and later became president of the New Zealand Rugby Union.
The1888–1889 New Zealand Native football team organised byJoseph Warbrick toured New Zealand, Australia, England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The team became the first New Zealand side to perform ahaka during its match v Surrey,[3] and also the first to wear an all black uniform. It was a wholly private endeavour, not organised by the NZRU.
The first New Zealand Māori team given official status was selected in 1910.[3] That year the team toured New Zealand and Australia, playing a range of combined New Zealand provinces and Australian state teams. An American Universities squad was touring Australia at the same time and two fixtures were against the New Zealand Maoris. Both were played at Sydney and were won by the New Zealanders 14–11 and 21–3 respectively. In their 19 total matches played they won 12, drew 3 and lost 4 games.
The New Zealand Maoris had not played a match outside New Zealand or Australia until 1926, when they undertooka European tour of France, England and Wales. They also played two games in New Zealand before they left, two more in Australia on the way, and also stopped in Sri Lanka for one game before travelling to France to start the European fixtures. On the return to New Zealand they stopped in Victoria, Australia for a final game in which they won 41–3. In all there were 40 games played. The New Zealand Maoris won 30 of those, drew 2 and lost 8. Full-back George Nēpia remains the most notable player of that period.[3]
New Zealand has a long history of sporting contact withSouth Africa, especially inrugby union. Until the 1970s, this involved discrimination against Māori players, since the segregationist laws in South Africa for most of the twentieth century did not allow people of different races to play sport together. South African officials requested that Māori players not be included in teams which toured the country. Despite some of New Zealand's best players being Māori, this was agreed to, and Māori players were excluded from the first three tours of South Africa by New Zealand, in 1928, 1949 and 1960.
Nonetheless, in the early period ofapartheid, during their1956 tour South Africa did play the Māoris in New Zealand. In April 2010Muru Walters said that in 1956Ernest Corbett,Minister of Māori Affairs, had told the team to deliberately lose to theSpringboks "for the future of rugby". The Māoris lost 37–0. This was followed by Walters calling for the New Zealand government to apologise for the way it treated Māori rugby players.[4]
The professional era in rugby union began in 1995. The team lost only four of its 26 games played between 1994 and 2004, including beatingEngland,Argentina,Scotland andFiji. The Māori continued their winning form in 2004 beating theEngland Saxons in extra time in the final of theChurchill Cup in Canada.
One of their two annual tournaments is thePacific Nations Cup, a competition involving the Pacific top national teams. From 2008 they replaced theJunior All Blacks, and they were undefeated champions, narrowly beating Australia A in the final game of the tournament. TheChurchill Cup was another, which they won in2004 and in 2006, defeatingIreland A and theUSA in pool play inSanta Clara, California andScotland A in the final inEdmonton, Alberta.
In 2005 the Māori beat theBritish & Irish Lions for the first time in an official match. Their preparations for this match caused them to withdraw from the2005 Churchill Cup. In August 2012, theNZRU announced the Māori All Blacks would play three matches in the United Kingdom, including a fixture against Canada.Jamie Joseph was coach with assistance fromDaryl Gibson.[5]
In matches in New Zealand in 2010 to mark one hundred years of the team, they defeated Ireland and England.
The team was renamed the Māori All Blacks in 2012, having previously been called the New Zealand Maori and New Zealand Maoris. Many members have gone on to play for New Zealand.
One of the New Zealand Natives' legacies was thehaka, a traditional Māori posture dance with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet, to the accompaniment of rhythmically shouted words; this was first performed during a match on 3 October 1888 against Surrey in England, United Kingdom. The haka was later adopted by the New Zealand national team, theAll Blacks.
In 2001, the Māori first performed the "Timatanga"haka, which describes the evolution of life and the creation of New Zealand from the four winds. This was written especially for the New Zealand Maori team by teamkaumātua (elder) Whetu Tipiwai. It tells the Māori story of the creation from the void, the nothingness, the darkness to what we have today. It also tells of a gathering of young warriors, young chiefs, youngrugby players who are making a statement and setting aims, objectives and strategies to achievematauranga (knowledge),whanaunatanga (unity) andtaumatatanga (excellence).
New Zealand Māori matches against international sides, including theNew Zealand Natives 1888 and 1889 tour. These results are only against fullinternational sides, including theBritish & Irish Lions, but not against second national teams.[6]
| Against | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Argentina | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
 Australia | 18 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 33.33% |
 Brazil | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
 British & Irish Lions | 9 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 11.11% |
 Canada | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
 Chile | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
 Cook Islands | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
 England | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 50.00% |
 Fiji | 31 | 21 | 8 | 2 | 67.74% |
 France | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
 Ireland | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 75.00% |
 Japan | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
| Japan XV | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.00% |
| New Zealand | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 00.00% |
 Samoa | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
 Scotland | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
 South Africa | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 00.00% |
 Spain | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
 Tonga | 14 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 71.43% |
 United States | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
 Wales | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 00.00% |
| Total | 130 | 81 | 44 | 5 | 62.31% |
Updated: 17 July 2024
On 25 June 2024,Ross Filipo named a 28-man squad for a two-match series againstJapan XV as part of the Lipovitan D Challenge Cup 2024.[7]
Note:Bold denotes players who are internationally capped, Caps correct as of 29 June 2024
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