Monday, August 29th, 2005
So the New Zealand All Blacks managed to keep the edge on South Africa in Saturday’s Tri Nations rugby union game at Carisbrook in Dunedin. The score: 31-27. Maybe a deciding factor was the new haka written for the All Blacks and performed for the first time. Usually the haka is led by a Maori member of the All Blacks. This time it was led by Tana Umaga, a Samoan New Zealander. It was just as impressive.
Performing a haka certainly stirs the spirit. As a university student I lived at Knox College, an all-male hostel at the time. When it came time for inter-hostel swimming carnival all 150 of us performed a haka beside the swimming pool. If my memory serves me right we didn’t win the carnival but we did make an impression.
The words for the new All Blacks haka here come from the All Blacks official page.
For more on the traditional haka see the NZ Folk Song website or Tu Strategies.
For the pronunciation of vowels:
a as in car
e as in where (1st e)
i as in me “hi” sounds like “he”
o as in awe
u as in put or foot
See the Maori Language site for more clues on dipthongs and consonants.
KIA WHAKAWHENUA AU I AHAU!
Let me become one with the land
HI AUE, HI!!
KO AOTEAROA E NGUNGURU NEI!
This is our land that rumbles
AU, AU, AUE HA!
And it�s my time! It�s my moment!
KO KAPA O PANGO E NGUNGURU NEI !
This defines us as the All Blacks
AU, AU, AUE HA!
It�s my time! It�s my moment!
I AHAHA!
KA TU TE IHIIHI
Our dominance
KA TU TE WANAWANA
Our supremacy will triumph
KI RUNGA KI TE RANGI E TU IHO NEI
TU IHO NEI, HI!
And will be placed on high
>PONGA RA!
Silver fern!
KAPA O PANGO, AUE HI!
All Blacks!
PONGA RA
Silver fern!
KAPA O PANGO, AUE HI, HA!
All Blacks!
Tags: All Blacks, Australia, NZ, rugby, Sport
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Saturday, August 13th, 2005
It’s good to see the All Blacks have kept the Bledisloe Cup in Rugby Union. I was brought up to cheer for the All Blacks and anybody playing Australia. Now I’m in Australia it’s not that simple! I think the Australians have enough cups already.
But I’m a little concerned that Australians are too used to winning. A lot of my friends are whinging on about how badly the Australian cricket team did in the Ashes. They lost the second test by two wickets. Which makes the team useless? Of course not.
Kiwis are used to being philosophical. Perhaps it comes from being such a small country. Whenever we win it’s great. If we lose, too bad. Mind you if NZ had lost the Bledisloe Cup tonight there would be a week of depression in store…
Tags: All Blacks, Australia, NZ, rugby, Sport
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Thursday, July 7th, 2005
Last night the Queensland Maroons took on the New South Wales Blues in the third and deciding State of Origin match for 2005. Queensland won the first match. New South Wales took out the second. And so it was with great hopes that Brisbane hosted the third match at Suncorp Stadium (Lang Park).
State of Origin is like life and death here. Last night I ducked down to the supermarket to do the week’s shopping. There were only two people shopping. The pre-match commentary had replaced the muzak on the speakers. Of course I was home in time to watch most of the match!
Before moving to Australia I often wondered what this “State of Origin” was. Growing up in Rugby Union territory the Rugby League world was on the edges of my awareness. Only time I ever played league was at lunchtimes during my time in market gardening. Little did I know that ’state of origin’ referred to the rivalry between Queensland and New South Wales. Most Queensland NRL players tend to gravitate to the Sydney teams. New Zealand players likewise. That’s where the money and the chances have traditionally been. However each year each state is able to call back its home grown players for three intensely fought matches.
The history of the State of Origin, and indeed Rugby League in Australia, is outlined at RL1908.com, courtesy of Sean Fagan.
The official State of Origin merchandise store is online at www.stateoforigin.com.au There you can buy official match programs, clothing, head gear, banners, beer gear, DVDs/videos, gift packs and memorabilia.
State of Origin has an entry in Wikipedia which picks up on the Australian Rules State of Origin series that is no longer played. The entry suggests the development of a similar series in NZ, between the South Island and North Island, or between Auckland and the rest of New Zealand.
So how did last night’s game go? The Cane Toads were whipped! Until the last few minutes of the game it looked as though this was going to be a record defeat with Queensland failing to get onto the scoreboard. However a couple of tries remedied that.
Queensland Cane Toads 10
New South Wales Roaches 32
See my post on Castlemaine XXXX, one of Queensland’s sponsors, at Duncan’s TV Adland.
Tags: NRL, rugby, rugby league, Sport
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