Among the balls, boots and black jerseys the New Zealand men's sevens team has packed a new haka for the Rio Olympics.
For as long as they have been on the world stage, the sevens team have followed in the All Blacks' footsteps by adopting the traditional and widely used Ka Mate version of the haka.
From Hong Kong to Wellington, people have seen countless triumphs celebrated by shirtless haka performances.
The men's team now have a new haka entitled 'Tū: Te Toa o Te Riri'.
The idea for a new haka came about through veteran playmaker Gillies Kaka after members of the sevens team visited Eastern Bay of Plenty schools before leaving for the Games.
One of the respective schools performed haka to thank the team for sharing messages of healthy living, fitness and the importance of goal setting.
But the players only had Ka Mate to respond with, and did not feel it was appropriate. Ka Mate can be offensive in some parts of New Zealand, particularly the South Island due to lingering animosity around land wars.
Sevens mastermind Sir Gordon Tietjens is right behind the decision and is understood to have learned the haka. Tietjens has been encouraged to join the team in performing it in Rio, in what would be a fitting farewell for the veteran coach, but only if the team break through and win gold.
Tietjens' men are second favourites with New Zealand odds makers behind Fiji.
Meanwhile, the Fiji men’s 7s team will take on Brazil in their first Rio Olympics pool game at 4.30am next Wednesday, they will then face Argentina at 9.30am before taking on USA at 4.30am next Thursday.
Source: Stuff.co
