Planet Rugby Forum

Veteran halfback Will Genia has called for the Wallabies’ indigenous jersey to be worn in every Test match to celebrate Australia being a proudly multi-cultural country.

Genia’s suggestion came as Australian and New Zealand players both leapt to the defence of the All Black’s famous haka, amid yet another faux controversy about the pre-game challenge.

A new book by a British journalist claims to quote former All Blacks prop Kees Meeuws as saying the haka was overused and losing its significance in Test matches.

The All Blacks, who are in Sydney preparing for the opening Bledisloe Cup, shot down the notion of the haka being too commercialised, however and said Meeuws had been misquoted.

Wallabies players said they loved facing the haka, and appreciated its significance in Maori and New Zealand culture.

“It is really special in that regard. How much it is used, that’s up to them,” Australian flanker David Pocock said.

Australian players said they treasured the opportunity to incorporate indigenous Australian culture on the Wallabies jersey last year, when they wore the specially-designed kit against the All Blacks in Brisbane.

The Wallabies beat New Zealand and there was widespread agreement the jersey should be used at least once a year.

When the jersey will be used this season has not yet been decided but it is understood Wallabies officials are considering wearing it against England at Twickenham in November.

Genia believes it should be worn more than once a year, however.

"I would love to wear it all the time. I am not the boss but I certainly think they should think about. Because it is a representation of all our cultures, and I think that part should be emphasised as any other part,” Genia said.

“I felt pretty privileged to wear that jersey in what it represents. Having someone special like Kurtley a part of the group, it has extra significance for this particular group. I love it.”

The Wallabies take huge pride, Genia added, in being a slice of wider Australia: a group of people from many different lands who call Australia home.

“I think that is something really special about Australia. You look at the Wallaby team now there are I think that’s what makes this country a special place and makes it great to be a part of as a representation of that,” Genia said.

“That’s why I think it is important. You probably shouldn’t refer to it as the indigenous jersey, it should just be the Australian jersey, in a sense. Because we are all Australian.”

Genia said criticism of the haka being commercialised was off the mark.

“They don’t do it for commercial purpose. They do it because it is something that is important to them in terms of their culture,” he said.

“From our perspective, we have an incredible amount of respect for it.”

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen launched a defence of the pre-game ritual in response to the debate and players Sam Cane and Ben Smith echoed that passion on Monday.

Cane said he believed Meeuws was misrepresented and the haka was certainly held in as high regard as ever by the All Blacks.

“The only article I've seen around it was on Kees Meeuws and we've been informed that unfortunately he was misquoted so that's a shame,” he said.

“But from an All Blacks point of view we love doing the haka.

Zakar wrote:Do you adopt it year round (looks great, meaningful) or only use it on special occasions to avoid it becoming a cheap marketing gimic like the haka. Tough call.

Zakar wrote:Do you adopt it year round (looks great, meaningful) or only use it on special occasions to avoid it becoming a cheap marketing gimic like the haka. Tough call.

fishfoodie wrote:I'm sure there are plenty of good artists in Oz that could put together a clever jersey that merged the traditional Wallabies one, with a significant indigenous theme; to show the merging of the two stories.

Don't separate the histories, merge them; but do it tastefully, & honestly

CrazyIslander wrote:Don't like the idea, the only permanent feature is green and gold. You can commemorate various events with extra design if you want.

booze wrote:

Zakar wrote:Do you adopt it year round (looks great, meaningful) or only use it on special occasions to avoid it becoming a cheap marketing gimic like the haka. Tough call.

oh Zakar, I see what you did there!

Considering that, throughout history, more new zealanders have represented Australis than your indigenous people then I think you should probably adopt the haka as a sign of respect, before considering anything else.

flaggETERNAL wrote:

CrazyIslander wrote:Don't like the idea, the only permanent feature is green and gold. You can commemorate various events with extra design if you want.

I don't know man. The one pictured looks pretty good. It's not too garish and doesn't take away from the green and gold.

LandOTurk wrote:

fishfoodie wrote:I'm sure there are plenty of good artists in Oz that could put together a clever jersey that merged the traditional Wallabies one, with a significant indigenous theme; to show the merging of the two stories.

Don't separate the histories, merge them; but do it tastefully, & honestly

Doesn't it do that with the gold & green? Or do you mean you want more of a narrative, like white folk turning up in chains, liberating themselves, before imprisoning the locals.....


Shoudn't have said that but had a couple of tinnies and fun got the better of me.

Zakar wrote:Do you adopt it year round (looks great, meaningful) or only use it on special occasions to avoid it becoming a cheap marketing gimic like the haka. Tough call.

Piltdown Man wrote:

Zakar wrote:Do you adopt it year round (looks great, meaningful) or only use it on special occasions to avoid it becoming a cheap marketing gimic like the haka. Tough call.

Yet another bitter Bledisloe-less ocker.

CrazyIslander wrote:The ABs should put a design in their jersey to honour the Maori people.

CrazyIslander wrote:The ABs should put a design in their jersey to honour the Maori people.

shanky wrote:

CrazyIslander wrote:The ABs should put a design in their jersey to honour the Maori people.

All Black perfectly represents the unitary nature of the hive.

Loyal, singular, and ruled by a queen who makes the babies

Jay Cee Gee wrote:

CrazyIslander wrote:The ABs should put a design in their jersey to honour the Maori people.

They don't need to - it's nice that the ARU are trying to involve the indigenous community with the Wallabies but it's only necessary to do it so publicly because they've neglected them for decades. Maori have been an intrinsic part of the All Blacks since before they were the All Blacks.

Brumbie_Steve wrote:

Jay Cee Gee wrote:

CrazyIslander wrote:The ABs should put a design in their jersey to honour the Maori people.

They don't need to - it's nice that the ARU are trying to involve the indigenous community with the Wallabies but it's only necessary to do it so publicly because they've neglected them for decades. Maori have been an intrinsic part of the All Blacks since before they were the All Blacks.

Except of course when they had to go to South Africa.

Brumbie_Steve wrote:

Jay Cee Gee wrote:

CrazyIslander wrote:The ABs should put a design in their jersey to honour the Maori people.

They don't need to - it's nice that the ARU are trying to involve the indigenous community with the Wallabies but it's only necessary to do it so publicly because they've neglected them for decades. Maori have been an intrinsic part of the All Blacks since before they were the All Blacks.

Except of course when they had to go to South Africa.

Fat Old Git wrote:Gold? That's just fancy talk for yellow.

CrazyIslander wrote:The ABs should put a design in their jersey to honour the Maori people.

CrazyIslander wrote:Don't like the idea, the only permanent feature is green and gold. You can commemorate various events with extra design if you want.

merlin the happy pig wrote:

CrazyIslander wrote:Don't like the idea, the only permanent feature is green and gold. You can commemorate various events with extra design if you want.

Would need a whole lot of red, a bunch of invisible children, and a few sheep to be historically accurate.

naki wrote:

Brumbie_Steve wrote:

Jay Cee Gee wrote:

CrazyIslander wrote:The ABs should put a design in their jersey to honour the Maori people.

They don't need to - it's nice that the ARU are trying to involve the indigenous community with the Wallabies but it's only necessary to do it so publicly because they've neglected them for decades. Maori have been an intrinsic part of the All Blacks since before they were the All Blacks.

Except of course when they had to go to South Africa.

Was there uproar when the Wallabies were forced to leave all their indigenous players behind on tours to SA as well?

naki wrote:

Brumbie_Steve wrote:

Jay Cee Gee wrote:

CrazyIslander wrote:The ABs should put a design in their jersey to honour the Maori people.

They don't need to - it's nice that the ARU are trying to involve the indigenous community with the Wallabies but it's only necessary to do it so publicly because they've neglected them for decades. Maori have been an intrinsic part of the All Blacks since before they were the All Blacks.

Except of course when they had to go to South Africa.

Was there uproar when the Wallabies were forced to leave all their indigenous players behind on tours to SA as well?

shanky wrote:

naki wrote:Was there uproar when the Wallabies were forced to leave all their indigenous players behind on tours to SA as well?

GS will be hauling you up before the beak on whatabouttery charges if you’re not careful.

Brumbie_Steve wrote:

Jay Cee Gee wrote:

CrazyIslander wrote:The ABs should put a design in their jersey to honour the Maori people.

They don't need to - it's nice that the ARU are trying to involve the indigenous community with the Wallabies but it's only necessary to do it so publicly because they've neglected them for decades. Maori have been an intrinsic part of the All Blacks since before they were the All Blacks.

Except of course when they had to go to South Africa.

kiap wrote:
Naki is safe; the GS radar is not full band.