Everything about All Blacks totally explained
Graham Henry
| from = 2003
| caps =
Sean Fitzpatrick (92)
| top scorer =
Andrew Mehrtens (967)
| most tries =
Doug Howlett (49)
| youngest player =
Jonah Lomu 1994 (aged 19 years, 45 days)
| pattern_la1 =
| pattern_b1 =
| pattern_ra1 =
| leftarm1 =000000
| body1 = 000000
| rightarm1 =000000
| shorts1 = 000000
| socks1 = 000000
| pattern_la2 =
| pattern_b2 =
| pattern_ra2 =
| leftarm2 =C0C0C0
| body2 =C0C0C0
| rightarm2 =C0C0C0
| shorts2 =000000
| socks2 =000000
| first = 3 - 22
(
15 August,
1903)
| bigwin = 145 - 17
(
4 June,
1995)
| bigloss = 28 - 7
(
28 August,
1999)
| World cup apps = 6
| year = 1987
| best = Champions,
1987
}}
The
All Blacks are
New Zealand's national team in
rugby union, which is the country's
national sport. The All Blacks are a formidable force in international rugby and have a winning record against every international rugby team, including the
British and Irish Lions and the
World XV.
The All Blacks compete annually with the Australian rugby team (the
Wallabies), and the South African rugby team (the
Springboks), in the
Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the
Bledisloe Cup with Australia. The All Blacks have been Tri-Nations champions eight times in the tournament's eleven-year history, and twice completed a
Grand Slam (in 1978 and in 2005), and currently hold the
Bledisloe Cup. According to the official
IRB World Rankings, the All Blacks are ranked second in the world behind current world champions South Africa. The All Blacks were also named the 2006
International Rugby Board (IRB) Team of the Year. Fourteen former All Blacks have been inducted into the
International Rugby Hall of Fame, and one has been inducted into the
IRB Hall of Fame.
The team first competed internationally in 1884 against Cumberland County, New South Wales, and played their first
Test match in 1903, a victory against
Australia. This was soon followed by a tour of the northern hemisphere in 1905, during which the team's only loss was to
Wales in
Cardiff.
The All Blacks completed their first series win over arch-rivals South Africa ("The Springboks") in New Zealand in 1956. A decade later, they achieved their longest winning streak by winning seventeen Tests between 1965 and 1970. The
British and Irish Lions achieved their only series victory over the All Blacks in 1971, but seven years later the All Blacks completed their first Grand Slam (wins over
England,
Ireland,
Scotland, and Wales on the same tour).
The
1981 Springbok Tour to New Zealand caused large-scale civil unrest due to protests over South Africa's
apartheid policy. In 1987 New Zealand hosted and won the inaugural
Rugby World Cup. New Zealand toured post-apartheid South Africa in 1996, and achieved their first series win on South African soil.
Early New Zealand national rugby uniforms consisted of a black jersey with a silver fern and white knickerbockers. By their 1905 tour the All Blacks were wearing all black, except for the silver fern, and their All Black name dates from this time. The All Blacks traditionally perform a
haka (
Māori posture dance) before each match. Traditionally, the haka performed is
Te Rauparaha's Ka Mate, though since 2005,
Kapa o Pango, a modified version of the 1924 All Blacks haka,
Kia Whaka-ngawari, has occasionally been performed.
History
Introduction of rugby to New Zealand
Rugby Football was introduced to New Zealand by Charles Monro in the late 1860s; Monro discovered the sport while completing his studies at
Christ's College Finchley,
England. The first game in New Zealand took place in May 1870 in Nelson between the Nelson club and Nelson College. The first union,
Canterbury, was formed in 1879. In 1882, New Zealand's first internationals were played when the Southern Rugby Union (later the
New South Wales Rugby Union) toured the country. The tourists played Auckland provincial clubs twice, Wellington twice and once each against Canterbury, Otago and West Coast,
North Island, winning four games and losing three. Two years later the first New Zealand team to go overseas toured New South Wales; New Zealand played and won eight games.
The first tour by a British team took place in 1888 when a
British Isles team toured Australia and New Zealand, although no Test matches were played. The players were drawn mainly from England and the
Scottish Borders, although there were representatives from all four home unions.
International competition begins
The year 1892 saw the formation of the
New Zealand Rugby Football Union representing seven unions not including Canterbury,
Otago and
Southland. The first sanctioned New Zealand side toured New South Wales in 1894 and the following year New Zealand played its first home "international" game, losing 8-6 to New South Wales. The team's first true international Test match was against Australia on
15 August, 1903 at the
Sydney Cricket Ground, resulting in a 22-3 win.
A representative New Zealand team first toured Britain in 1905 (since referred to as
the Originals). Reference to the team by the name "All Blacks" first appeared during this tour when, according to team member
Billy Wallace, a London newspaper reported that the New Zealanders played as if they were "all
backs". Wallace claimed that due to a typographical error, subsequent references were to "All Blacks". This is likely myth however, as the name also describes their playing uniform of black shirts, shorts and socks. The match has entered into the folklore of both countries because of controversy over whether All Black Bob Deans scored a disallowed try (which would have earned the team a 3-3 draw). A team representing the British Isles — known as the Anglo-Welsh since they consisted only of English and Welsh players — undertook a return tour to New Zealand in 1908 and were defeated in the test series 2-0 by the All Blacks.
Development of a legacy
New Zealand's rivalry with
South Africa began in 1921, when the
Springboks (as the South African team is known) toured New Zealand for a Test series that finished
all square. The All Blacks went on to later tour South Africa for the first time in 1928; this series also ended in a draw.
The 1924 All Black tourists to the United Kingdom (UK) were eventually dubbed
the Invincibles because they'd won every game. However, the team were deprived of the chance to complete a grand slam when Scotland refused to play them because of an argument over expenses. The first truly representative British Isles (now known as British and Irish Lions) side toured New Zealand in 1930. Although the Lions won the first Test, the home side regrouped and went on to win the series 3-1. New Zealand toured the UK again in 1935–36, losing only three games (including two Tests) during a 30-match tour. In one of these losses,
Prince Obolensky famously scored two tries to help England to a 13-0 win, their first over the All Blacks.
In 1937, South Africa won a series against the All Blacks when they toured New Zealand, and this
1937 South African team has subsequently been described as the best team ever to leave New Zealand. It wasn't until 1949, after the end of the Second World War, that the All Blacks next played the Springboks when they visited South Africa with
Fred Allen as captain. The tour witnessed an infamous All Blacks record — the loss of two Test matches on the same day. This was made possible because Australia were touring New Zealand at the same time. On the afternoon of
September 3 (New Zealand time), the All Black team captained by J. B. (Johnny) Smith was beaten 11-6 by Australia in Wellington. That same afternoon in South Africa (South Africa time), the All Blacks captained by Ron Elvidge (Allen was injured) lost 9-3 to the Springboks in
Durban. The All Blacks in New Zealand also lost their second Test, 16-9, which gave Australia the Bledisloe Cup for the first time. Although each Test was very close, the All Blacks lost the series 4-0.
The two series losses to South Africa made their 1956 tour of New Zealand highly anticipated. The All Blacks were captained by Bob Duff and coached by
Bob Stuart, and their 3-1 series win was their first ever over the Springboks as well as being the Springboks' first ever series loss against any opponent.
The All Blacks' 3-1 series win over the Lions in 1959 proved to be the start of a dominant period in All Blacks rugby. This was followed by the 1963–64 tour to the UK, led by Wilson Whineray, in which the All Blacks came very close to achieving a Grand Slam but were deprived by a scoreless draw with Scotland. The only loss on this tour was to
Newport RFC who defeated the All Blacks 3-0 at
Rodney Parade,
Newport on
October 30 1963. Later, the 1967 side won three Tests, but was unable to play Ireland because of a
foot-and-mouth scare. Although the 1966 Lions were defeated 0-4 in their New Zealand tour, there was a reversal of fortune five years later when the
1971 Lions, under the captaincy of Welshman
John Dawes, beat the All Blacks in a Test series which remains the Lions' only series victory in New Zealand to date.
The 1972–3 tourists narrowly missed a Grand Slam with a draw against Ireland.
In 1978,
Graham Mourie captained the All Blacks to their first Grand Slam which was completed with a 13-12 victory over Wales. That game generated great controversy after the All Blacks won as the result of a late penalty. Lock
Andy Haden had dived out of a
line-out in an attempt to earn a penalty; however the penalty awarded by referee Roger Quittenton was actually against Welsh lock Geoff Wheel for jumping off the shoulder of
Frank Oliver. The All Blacks' only loss on the tour was the famous 12-0 defeat by Irish province
Munster at
Thomond Park. Later a play which focused on the loss was written by the
John Breen called
Alone it Stands.
Controversial tours
The 1976 All Blacks tour of South Africa generated much controversy and led to the boycott of the
1976 Summer Olympics in
Montreal by thirty-three African nations. The All Blacks again failed to win the Test series in South Africa (they wouldn't do so until 1996, after the fall of apartheid). The 1976 Tour contributed to the
Gleneagles Agreement being adopted by the Commonwealth Heads of State in 1977.
The
1981 South African tour to New Zealand sparked protests against South Africa's
apartheid policy the likes of which hadn't been seen in New Zealand since the
1951 waterfront dispute. The NZRU had invited the Springboks to tour as the
Muldoon government refused to involve politics in sport. Although the All Blacks won the Test series, two of the tour's provincial games were cancelled and the whole tour was marred by violence and protest. During the tour the country experienced unrest, and the tour had a significant impact on New Zealand society.
The 1985 All Blacks tour to South Africa was cancelled after legal action argued it would breach the NZRU's constitution. Those that participated in the tour received a ban from the NZRU when they returned to New Zealand.
Early World Cups
The
inaugural World Cup in 1987 was co-hosted and won by New Zealand, who beat
France 29–9 in the
1987 Rugby World Cup Final at
Eden Park,
Auckland. New Zealand conceded only 52 points and scored 43 tries in six games en route to the title, having swept aside the challenges of
Italy,
Fiji,
Argentina, Scotland, Wales and France.
By the
1991 World Cup, the All Blacks were an aging side, co-coached by
Alex Wyllie and
John Hart. They struggled during pool matches against the
United States and Italy, but won their quarter-final against
Canada. They were then knocked out by eventual winners Australia 16–6 in their semi-final at
Lansdowne Road. In the wake of the tournament, there were many retirements, including coach Wyllie, who had enjoyed an 86% win rate during 29 Tests in charge.
Laurie Mains replaced Wyllie in 1992, and was given the job of preparing the side for the
1995 event in South Africa. The All Blacks were again favourites to take the championship. Their favouritism was confirmed when a young
Jonah Lomu scored four tries against England in the All Blacks' 45-29 semi-final win. However, the New Zealand team suffered an outbreak of food poisoning before the
1995 Rugby World Cup Final (the source of the poisoning is heavily debated). Despite this, they took hosts South Africa to extra time, before losing to
Joel Stransky's
drop goal.
Professional era
The professional era in rugby union began in 1995, marked by creation of the
SANZAR group (a combination of South Africa, New Zealand and Australia) which was formed with the purpose of selling TV rights for two new competitions, the domestic
Super 12 competition and the Tri-Nations.
The 1996 Tri-Nations match in South Africa between the All Blacks and Springboks was also the first in a historic series. Under new coach
John Hart and the captaincy of
Sean Fitzpatrick, the All Blacks won a Test series in South Africa for the first time. Fitzpatrick even rated the series win higher than the 1987 World Cup victory in which he'd participated. However, in 1998, the All Blacks lost all four of their Tests, the first time they'd lost four in succession since 1949. The following year, they suffered their worst ever Test loss, a 28-7 loss to Australia in Sydney.
The All Blacks rebounded in the
1999 World Cup and dominated their pool, handing England a 30-16 defeat at
Twickenham. They advanced past Scotland 30-18 in the quarter-finals to play France at Twickenham. The All Blacks finished the first half ahead 17-10. They defeated South Africa, a team they'd never beaten at the World Cup, 29-9, but lost again to Australia 22-10 in the semi-final in Sydney. Afterwards, Mitchell was fired by the NZRU and replaced by
Graham Henry.
Henry's tenure began with a double victory over reigning World Champions England in 2004. The two games had an aggregate score of 72-15, with the All Blacks keeping England try-less. Despite the winning start to Henry's tenure, the Tri-Nations was a mixed success with two wins and two losses. The competition was the closest ever, bonus points decided the outcome and the All Blacks finished last. The 2004 season finished on a high however, with the All Blacks winning in Europe, including a record 45-6 victory over France.
In 2005, the All Blacks whitewashed the touring British and Irish Lions 3-0 in the Test series, won the Tri-Nations, and achieved a second Grand Slam over the Home Nations. They went on to sweep the major International Rugby Board year-end awards in which the All Blacks were named Team of the Year, Henry was named Coach of the Year, and fly-half (first five)
Daniel Carter was Player of the Year. The All Blacks were nominated for the
Laureus World Sports Award for Team of the Year in 2006 for their 2005 performance.
In 2006, they again took the Tri Nations Series by winning their first five matches, (three against Australia and two against South Africa). However, they lost their final match of the series against South Africa. They completed their end of year tour unbeaten, with record away wins over France, England and Wales. The All Blacks were named 2006 IRB Team of the Year and were nominated for the Laureus World Sports Award for the second time, while flanker
Richie McCaw was named IRB Player of the Year.
The 2007 season started off with two
mid-year Tests against France. The All Blacks won the Tests; 42 - 11 at Eden Park, and 61 - 10 at Westpac Stadium. A third game between
Canada and the All Blacks resulted in a 64-13 scoreline, although the game was more competitive than the scoreline indicated.
The All Blacks' first
Tri-Nations game of 2007 was against the Springboks in
Durban, South Africa. The All Blacks scored two tries in the final ten minutes of the game to win 26-21. The following week against the Wallabies at the
MCG in
Melbourne the Wallabies upset the All Blacks to win 20-15; the All Blacks first loss to Australia since 2004. The All Blacks won both following home games to successfully defend the Tri-Nations Series for 2007.
The All Blacks entered the
2007 Rugby World Cup as favourites, and trumped their pool beating all their challengers, Scotland, Italy, Romania and Portugal by 40 points or more. However, they then suffered a defeat to hosts France in the first knockout game, the quarterfinals.
Jersey
The current All Black jersey is entirely black, with the
Adidas logo and the NZRU silver fern on the front. The 1884 New Zealand tour to Australia was the first overseas New Zealand rugby tour, and featured clothing far different from today's jersey. Back then, the team donned a dark blue jersey, with gold fern on the left of the jumper. In 1893 the NZRU stipulated at its annual general meeting that the uniform would be black jersey with a silver fern and white knickerbockers. However historic photographs suggest white shorts may have been used instead during these early years. Sometime between 1897 and 1901 there was a change; by 1901 the team met NSW in a black jersey, a canvas top with no collar, and a silver fern.
The All Blacks jersey is today considered the most recognisable rugby jersey. Recently it has become traditional for the All Blacks to wear an embroidered poppy on their jersey sleeve when playing France during the end of year tours. The poppy honours the soldiers who died in the battlefields of Europe. Captain Richie McCaw said "We want to honour the overseas service of New Zealanders. It is an important part of our history as a country and a team.".
Adidas currently pays the NZRFU $200 Million over 9 years, expecting the All Blacks to win around 75% of their matches.
Nike also looked at sponsoring the All Blacks in 1996, but went with
Tiger Woods instead.
The change kit has traditionally been white with black shorts, however the current kit is a silver/grey jersey (with black trim) and black shorts.
Haka
The All Blacks perform a
haka (
Māori dance) before each international match. The haka has been closely associated with New Zealand rugby ever since a tour of New South Wales in 1884. The New Zealand native team that toured Britain in 1889/89 used
Ake Ake Kia Kaha and the 1903 team in Australia used a mocking haka,
Tupoto koe, Kangaru!. The 1905 All Blacks began the tradition of using
Ka Mate and by 1914 this was firmly established as part of New Zealand rugby. The 1924 All Blacks used a specially composed haka
Kia Whaka-ngawari, but later All Blacks reverted back to
Ka Mate.
In August 2005, before the Tri-Nations Test match between New Zealand and South Africa at
Carisbrook stadium in
Dunedin, New Zealand, the All Blacks performed a new haka
Kapa o Pango, which was specially composed by Derek Lardelli and "...designed to reflect the multi-cultural make-up of contemporary New Zealand — in particular the influence of
Polynesian cultures".
Kapa o Pango was to be performed on special occasions and wasn't intended to replace
Ka Mate. However, according to Derek Lardelli, the gesture represents "drawing vital energy into the heart and lungs."
In November 2006, at the
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, the All Blacks performed the haka in the dressing room prior to the match — instead of on the field immediately before kick-off — after a disagreement with the
Welsh Rugby Union, which had wanted Wales to sing their national anthem after the haka.
Record
Tri-Nations
The All Blacks' only annual tournament is the Tri-Nations played against Australia and South Africa. The All Blacks' record of eight tournament wins (the most recent in 2007) and 35 match wins is well ahead of the other teams' records. The
Bledisloe Cup is also contested between New Zealand and Australia as part of the Tri-Nations.
World Cup
The All Blacks have won the World Cup once in the 1987 inaugural competition held in New Zealand and Australia. In 1991, they lost their semi-final to Australia before winning the playoff for third. In 1995, they improved by reaching the final, before losing in extra time to hosts South Africa. They finished in fourth place in 1999, after losing their semi-final and then the third-place playoff game. In 2003 the All Blacks were knocked out by hosts Australia in their semi-final, before finishing third. The 2007 World Cup saw their worst tournament, being knocked out in the quarterfinals by the host nation of France; until this they were the only team to have reached the semifinals of every tournament.
The All Blacks hold several World Cup records: most points in one match (145 versus
Japan in 1995), most cumulative points over all World Cups (1,711), most tries overall (232), most appearances held by Sean Fitzpatrick (17 from 1987 to 1995),
Marc Ellis with most tries in a match (6 versus Japan in 1995),
Grant Fox with most points in one tournament (126 in 1987), and
Simon Culhane with most points in a single game (45 versus Japan in 1995). The All Blacks are also well known, and feared, by many national teams for the potentially punishing winning margins that the All Blacks are capable of, and many national teams' 'worst defeat' monicker was often a match against the All Blacks. The national teams of France, Ireland, Argentina, Fiji, Tonga, Japan, and Portugal hold this unfortunate distinction at the hands of New Zealand.
Their Test match record against all nations (listed in order of total matches), updated to
4 November 2007, is as follows:
Players
Current squad
The squad for the
2007 Rugby World Cup:
|
|
+ Did not participate in the 2007 Tri-Nations
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