The Effect of Rugby’s Globalization and the All Blacks on New Zealand’s Cultural Heritage

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The Maori community historically and continued on to present day plays a game known as Ki-O-Rahi, a faced paced sport incorporating skills similar to Rugby, Netball and Australian Rules Football. Seeing rugby set up in the community must have drawn the Maori presence to prove himself to the ‘white man’ settler, already having most of the skill sets needed from a similar game. This incorporated the starting of teams built solely for the Aboriginals of New Zealand to join.

The All-Blacks can be seen as an international symbol to contribute to the world recognition of New Zealand in modern culture. In 2011 New Zealand was awarded the hosting rights for the Rugby World Cup, boosting not only an attraction for fans and tourists to watch the competition take place but also effecting the economic status of New Zealand. This competition and the growing acknowledgment to rugby in general has a major impact on the economic conditions of New Zealand, estimating that each visitor attending the R.W.C. (Rugby World Cup) spend approximately $3,400 each (stats govt. New Zealand.)

Discussion of Relevant Topics

The All-Black rugby team can be seen to do so well in international standings due to its raising of the rugby player through a cultured society. Being the national sport much like Brazil’s soccer and England’s cricket one can observe that those sports attract the attention of both children and parents to be raised in from a young age. Being raised into a culture of sport and in the case of the Maori players aggression it can be seen as natural to choose a physical contact sport to aim to represent your country in.

Adidas represents a corporation investment into not only the All-Blacks team but also the New-Zealand Society and Maori culture as a whole. Investing into the team demanded a control over ‘aspects of the New Zealand culture community and its collective memory.’ (Jackson, S. J. and Hokowhitu, B.). Rugby as a sport has brought a sense to the Maori people as sport in which they can achieve for themselves personally and has a whole indigenous group a sense of excellence, representing community and country on the national stage of various teams. With Adidas’s investment into the All-Blacks, bringing a re-facing of the team to the world, New Zealand economy

The tribal war dance known as ‘the Haka’ is performed by various New Zealand international squads including the ice hockey (Ice Blacks), basketball (Tall Blacks) and field hockey team (Black Sticks). The use of this by other teams except rugby can show the significance of the dance on the worldwide spectrum. This maybe because ‘the Haka, as one of New Zealand’s most identifiable national sporting rituals, is performed during heightened moments of national significance when facing foreign opponents’ (Jackson, S. J. and Hokowhitu, B.).

As the fore front Haka used by the All-Blacks on the international pitch it is worth an explanation of the meaning of the Haka to both the Maori and the team. The meaning of the ‘Ka Mate’ Haka should be known in order to fully understand the significance it has when used on the field. Upon the ending of both the national anthems the New Zealand team is lined up in a warring pattern to perform the following 40-second ritual;

Figure 1. Meaning of the New Zealand ‘Ka Mate’ Haka performed at the beginning of every international test match (http://www.allblacks.com/Teams/Haka)

Ka mate, ka mate! ka ora! ka ora!

Ka mate! ka mate! ka ora! ka ora!

Tēnei te tangata pūhuruhuru

Nāna nei i tiki mai whakawhiti te rā

Ā, upane! ka upane!

Ā, upane, ka upane, whiti te ra!

’Tis death! ‘tis death! (or: I may die) ’Tis life! ‘tis life! may live)

’Tis death! ‘tis death! ’Tis life! ‘tis life!

This is the hairy man

Who brought the sun and caused it to shine

A step upward, another step upward!

A step upward, another... the Sun shines!

With such a significant involvement of Maori people in the club, through international levels of Rugby it can be shown as a lesson Canada could use as a demonstration on the problems that our occurring with the Natives. If community could find a way to involve the Native population in more activities and events, in order to boost the sense of self worth that they have, are significant improvement may occur.

Development of Potential Hypotheses

My approach into researching how the New Zealand All Black’s rugby club has an effect on the culture of New Zealand will be to research why New Zealand proves to stay the worlds strongest team, breaking records consistently every year. Using a graph built from information available from the World Bank and the Rugby Football Union I shall be able to analyze the different clubs and how this affects the sporting atmosphere in New Zealand.

Figure 2. Statistical Analysis of the Top 7 International Rugby Teams in the Rugby Football Union

IRB Rankings

Population

GDP per Capita ($)

Number of Rugby Clubs

Number of Registered Players

1. New Zealand

4.5 million

40,600

600

28,648

2. South Africa

52 million

6,518

1526

121,663

3. Ireland

4.595 million

50,503.42

224

153,823

4. England

53.01 million (2011)

40,927