Blues ready for battle
‘Strength of Many’ to take on Lions
The Blues players will call upon the strength of their ancestors and that of their wider community as they lay down a challenge against the British and Irish Lions in what promises to be an emotional pre-match haka at Eden Park tonight.
It was composed by Whiria Meltzer and Ruka Makiha, two friends called upon by Blues coach Tana Umaga to devise a suitable challenge before what is the Lions’ first match against a New Zealand Super Rugby team. It will be the first time the Blues have performed a pre-match haka.
Called He Toa Takitini (The Strength of Many), the haka, which will be led by halfback Sam Nock and first-five Ihaia West, acknowledges those players who have previously represented the Blues, and the historical significance of Auckland.
Meltzer, a 26-year-old Northland rugby representative with a background in kapa haka which stretches back to early childhood (his family group is Te Waka Huia), said it also “encourages us as young men to strive for excellence and never waiver from a challenge . . . we shall strive on and endure to the very end. We will lay the challenge and never back down”. Meltzer, who went to Maori college Te Rangi Aniwaniwa in Kaitaia and has composed haka for primary schools in the Far North and also the Northland rugby team, said his name was put forward to Umaga by some of the Northland players in the Blues squad, including loose forward Kara Pryor.
“It’s a sacred thing, the haka . . . it’s not easy to compose,” Meltzer said. “It was a privilege to be amongst the Blues boys and management – I was out of my comfort zone, really.”
Asked whether the players picked it up quickly, he said: “They did, actually. They picked it up well because all the boys were buying into it — they were in the same waka, the same boat. When it’s like that it’s easy to teach and it’s easy to learn as well.”
Unfortunately for Meltzer, an outside back on the fringes of the New Zealand sevens squad this year, he won’t be able to see his creation play out in the flesh. He has tickets to the game but has already committed to attending Northland training in Whangarei ahead of their pre-season match against North Harbour next Monday.
“I’m quite gutted I can’t watch it live,” he said. “It’s a hard one. My partner is going to go on behalf of me and she will record it and tell me how it goes.”
The British and Irish Lions held a minute’s silence for the victims of the London terror attack before the captain’s run at QBE Stadium in Albany yesterday. Seven people were killed and about 50 injured when three terrorists mowed down pedestrians on London Bridge at the weekend before stabbing revellers around Borough Market. Assistant coach Rob Howley said the squad felt quite emotional about the attack. “It’s devastating and we send our deepest condolences to all the families.”