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The Haka
The Haka is a tradition in All black rugby history. The Haka is an ancient posture dance used by the New Zealand Maori that was traditionally used to prepare for war or battle. The All blacks introduced this dance in 1988 because the haka created a frenzy and prepared the players mentally and physically. This shows continuity because the haka has been used at every game the All Blacks have ever played and it proves how significant it is to the whole country -
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The New Zealand All Blacks Legacy
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The All Black kit
The All Blacks most noticeable traditon is their all black kit which has shown continuity because it has only been changed once for the 2012 season and Rugby World cup. Originally the New Zealand rugby team wore a navy blue kit with a gold fern. The first New Zealand representitive team that toured beyond Australia wore an all black kit which stuck and would give them the name the "All Blacks". -
Beginning of All Blacks and Wales rivalry
The first time The All Blacks met Wales was during their first tour outside of Australia. New Zealand faced many other teams and quite frankly steam rolled the competition winning 34 out 35 games in the UK. Their loss was at the hands of a 3-0 Wales win. Out of all the teams New Zealand played Wales gave them their toughest competition. This started what would become a great rivalry between the two teams. This also shows continuity because even early on New Zealand was rugby powerhouse. -
All Blacks and Springboks rivalry: 1949 series
The rivalry between the New Zealand All Blacks and the South Africa Springboks is perhaps the greatest in professional rugby history. That rivalry began in the 1949 series between the two teams. This was a nasty and heated series. It was said that "when South Africa plays New Zealand consider your country at war". This series showed progress and decline because the South Africa actually won the series and th All Blacks found out what it was like to lose. -
All Blacks and Wales rivalry
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Springboks vs All Blacks rivalry: 1976
In 1976 the All Blacks faced some controversy in the form of decline as they lost a big match against the Spingboks. This game was very controversial as the All Blacks thought the South African refs were cheating. Near the end of the game they were tied and it was an All Black lineout the ref said there was too many men in the lineout and one of the Springbok players said to the ref "thank you uncle". This angered the All Blacks because they saw this as unfair. -
All Blacks vs France rivalry
Some wouldn't necessarily classify this as a rivalry but it definitely became one in 1987 during the World Cup. Whenever the two teams played France was always the underdogs but they proved everyone wrong by beating the All Blacks in the world cup. This shows decline because as the years went by the All Blacks became less imperviable. -
Top team in rankings: 2004-2008
One of the All blacks longest dynasties was during the years of 2004-2008. For those four years they were number one in the IRB world rankings. This shows periodization because during this period of time they were winning constantly and were a very strong team, whereas in other points in time they were not as good -
Wales rivalry: 2006
The rivaly between Wales and the All Blacks goes back decades. There is never a lopsided game between the two. In fact an All Blacks player said that "you can never beat Wales, you can only score more points than them." In 2006 after the All Blacks completed the Haka neither teams moved they stood facing eachother. This was a sign that Wales should not be taken lightly. This relates to continuity and change because the agression between the two teams has never changed. -
All Blacks winning dynasty 2010-2013
Another recent dynasty that the All Blacks had was from 2010-2013. Although not as long as the one from 2004-2008 it is still significant because unlike their previous winning dynasty this time they won the Rugby World Cup. This shows periodization because they won many games including the World cup
