Success Lessons from the 2007 Rugby World Cup Part 2 – The Haka
There are few new lessons for success. Most people just need to be reminded of the ones they already know. One way to remember this is to see the laws of success applied in different settings, such as different sports settings.
Like most sports, rugby teaches lessons in success that apply to rugby as well as to life in general. The Rugby World Cup began with a shock result when Argentina beat hosts France on September 7, 2007.
The following day, Saturday 8 September, the New Zealand ‘All Blacks’ defeated the Italians in the next match of the competition. The score was 43 – 0 after just 30 minutes.
The All Blacks perform a ‘haka’ before their matches. Haka are sometimes thought of solely as war dances, but individual haka have different purposes that are not all related to war. Some are played by women.
The hands, arms, legs, feet, voice, eyes, tongue, and the body as a whole combine to express anger, annoyance, joy, or other appropriate feelings.
The Haka is also about drawing strength from your ancestors and climbing the ladder towards your dreams: nothing is impossible, you can achieve anything.
Many Scots, or partly Scottish as in my case, claim descent from a great ancestor, Robert the Bruce. We draw strength from his example.
He is famous for being willing to give up his fight for independence until he saw a spider that refused to stop trying to build its web despite many failures. Eventually, the spider succeeded and so did Robert.
I think of Robert the Bruce almost every day and I am reluctant to throw spiders. My bathroom has quite a few spiders that live happily there! My sister just suggested they’d be better off outside where they could get something to eat. She has a point!
Spiders provide a great role model for those who feel like giving up. Their perseverance and optimism in building their websites is legendary.
War hakas, known as ‘peruperú’, were originally performed by warriors before a battle. These dances, accompanied by fierce shouted chants, show the strength and ferocity of the warriors to scare off the opposition. This is the type of haka that is performed before rugby matches.
Most opposition rugby teams are tough men and are probably more intimidated by the All Blacks’ reputation than their haka, but they know they are in for a tough match and the haka performers finish the ‘war dance’ ‘ in a fighting spirit, ready to win the game and demoralize their opponents. A popular haka, with the English translation, follows below:
ringa pakia
uma tiraha
turi whatia
I hope that ake
waewae takahia kia kino
Clap hands against thighs
inflate the chest
bend your knees
let the hip follow
Seal your feet as tight as you can.
Ka Mate! Ka Mate!
Ka Ora! Ka Ora!
Tenei te tan ngata puhuru huru
Nana nei and tiki mai
Whakawhiti te ra
A upane ka upane!
A upane kaupane whiti te ra!
Hello!!
It’s death! It’s death!
That’s life! That’s life!
This is the hairy person
Who made the sun shine?
Stay tuned! keep abreast
The range! Hold on tight!
To the shining sun!
Music, words, and movement have been used for centuries to motivate human beings to heroic efforts. It’s no wonder that hit movies like Waterloo, Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves, and the Rocky series have inspiring soundtracks. Viewers leave the theater feeling like heroes.
TV series like the Hornblower series have soundtracks that make you feel like all your dreams can come true. Movement has the same effect. It warms you up and makes your mind sharper, more confident and more successful.
The Italians quickly discovered how an inspired and heroic team plays rugby.
The All Blacks move fast and seize every opportunity. They are just as quick to block opportunities that come their way. Every time it looked like Italy was scoring, two or three All Blacks were ready to attack the Italian player with the ball. His defense is almost impregnable.
However, Italy intercepted a ball and Stanievic scored a try. The score was now 43 -7.
Here’s a crumb of comfort to the English who haven’t been playing well since they became world champions in 2003. Stanievic was born in England and his parents own a hotel in Warwick.
“It’s seizing the moment, that’s what it is!” said New Zealand commentator Murray Mexted.
“Anything can be achieved if you put your mind to it!” said an announcement at halftime.
Chris Jack, a blocking forward, scored a try a few minutes after half time for New Zealand. He showed us a bit of a side step. “Who said locks couldn’t dodge?” Murray said when the score reached 50 -7. Too often players are stereotyped in rugby.
It has always been said, usually by defenders, that forwards cannot run fast with the ball. Teams, like the All Blacks, that ignore these false limitations often win games. The All Black forwards can run fast and can catch and pass the ball with great skill.
Italy contested the match strongly as soon as they recovered from stage fright when facing the renowned All Blacks. You have to play the man and not the jersey.
Successful people are not intimidated by the reputation of a group or an individual, be it the All Blacks or anyone else. Every human being has enormous abilities wherever they come from.
Eight years ago, in 1999, the All Blacks were beaten by France. France will have to repeat that performance next weekend in the Cardiff quarter-final if they are to reach the semi-final.
Italy almost made it to the try line again, but then the All Blacks scored instead.
The score was now 57 – 7. Jerry Collins then scored a try for New Zealand. The score went up to 62 – 7. Jerry then scored another try 69 – 7. Once you score a try, you like it! Get some success and you’ll want more.
Italy managed to score a second try with a good old fashioned support game before the end of the match. Ultimately, New Zealand won 76 -14. They like to be way ahead of the competition and they make sure they stay that way.
An All Black coach revealed one of his secrets. They get a lot of relaxation for both body and mind by sleeping and eating well and by playing sports they enjoy, such as rugby. Getting enough sleep, eating right, having fun and relaxing is a key element to success.
Australia also likes to be well up front. They are the most successful team in the rugby world cup series. They beat an improving Japanese team 91 – 3. Australia scored thirteen tries. The Japanese scored none.
Great teams are not content with winning. They want to annihilate the competition and reach almost impossible standards of excellence.
On Sunday September 9 at the Parc des Princes, South Africa, another favorite team to win the cup, beat Samoa 69-7.
Like the All Blacks, the Samoans perform a war dance they call ‘siva tau’ before their matches. During the dance, the players feel like warriors ready to fight for their people and they bring this mentality to the rugby game.
The Samoan national rugby union team used to perform the traditional ‘Ma’ulu’ulu Moa’ while on tour. Before the 1991 World Cup, the war chant ‘Manu Siva Tau’ was composed. It was considered to be more aggressive and effective in psyching players up.
The Tongans also have a fearsome war dance and the Fijians, not wanting to be left out, now perform their own.
These war dances do not always bring victory, except in the case of the All Blacks, but, as suggested above, they probably mean that the teams performing them play with more fire and energy than they would otherwise.
I hope that one day South Africans can start their matches with a Zulu war dance. However, England should probably avoid doing a morris dance, even though some of these have connections to sword fighting!
Rugby teams without war dances usually take inspiration from their national anthems. England also relies on the great spiritual, ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’.
South Africa play well, however, without a war dance and have won the world cup before. They believe, every time the world cup takes place, that they can win it. They certainly started well by beating Samoa.
On Tuesday, England suffered injuries and a suspension. None of them apart from the suspension cam from the actual game of Rugby. Clive Ashton hinted that he wouldn’t have minded if the injuries came from something serious like getting kicked to the ground by ten strikers!
What success lessons can we learn from the above story?
We can use the power of movement and exercise to inspire us to achieve success in any field of human endeavor.
Roger Haeske has written an article on how exercise can make us rich! His opinion is that exercise makes us more energetic and productive, and therefore more likely to earn more money. I agree.
Draw strength from the example of your ancestors, whether they be Robert the Bruce or someone less famous but equally heroic.
Move fast and seize every opportunity that comes your way.
Too often players are stereotyped in rugby and in life in general. We need to ignore these stereotypes and find out for ourselves what we can do.
Successful people are not intimidated by the reputation of a group or an individual, be it the All Blacks or anyone else.
Once you score a try, you get the taste! Get some success and you’ll want more.
Get plenty of relaxation for both body and mind. Make sure you have fun somewhere in your
work and life at least.
Believe that you will win or be successful in whatever you are doing. This will increase your chances of success exponentially.
Don’t strive just to be a hero. Strive to be a superhero!