‘I went hundies with it’: How Kendra prepared to lead haka
BLACK Ferns legend Kendra Cocksedge has revealed the thrill when she was told she would lead the Black Ferns haka – and the lengths she took to make sure she did Ko U¯ hia Mai justice.
Three weeks out from the start of their campaign to notch up a sixth Rugby World Cup title, Cocksedge recalled the moment Arihiana Marino-Tauhinu and Ruahei Demant, who usually lead the haka, told her she would lead it ahead of her final international in her home town of O¯ tautahi Christchurch last month.
‘‘When they asked me, I was blown away. We had haka practice as a team and Ari announced to the whole team that I was going to be leading it and I was like, hang on a minute, I’ve got to make sure I’m good enough to lead it first.’’
The Black Ferns usually hold back when they practise their haka, focusing on getting their actions right. But Cocksedge didn’t on this occasion.
‘‘I had to work out if I could do it or not and if I had that respect from my teammates to do it, so I went hundies with it and I blew myself away, and I think blew the girls away, because all of them cheered and were like, holy heck, that was unbelievable.
‘‘From then, I felt that I was comfortable. I knew the words – I’ve done them for 15 years – but I was a bit nervous around the actions and what I needed to do, but the team were awesome and Ruahei and Ari were really supportive.
‘‘Then it came to game day and I was just really ready to crack into it and it was pretty special.’’
The Black Ferns are a far more prominent team now than they were in 2007, when Cocksedge made her debut, and this year’s home World Cup is set to put them in the spotlight more than ever before.
‘‘I grew up doing the All Blacks haka, Ka Mate,’’ says Cocksedge – because it was all she saw on TV. ‘‘Now I just hope that young girls can do the same – they watch us and they start doing our haka and then one day they might become a Black Fern.’’
And as MarinoTauhinu looks forward to the World Cup, where the Black Ferns are expecting to be greeted by larger crowds than they’ve ever played in front of, MarinoTauhinu says the prospect of performing the haka – of showcasing her culture – was ‘‘exciting and exhilarating’’. ‘‘We Mā ori are the people of the land and for us to be able to express ourselves and to welcome people to this land is a beautiful thing.’’
You can read more about the origins of the Black Ferns haka Ko U¯ hia Mai and read it in translation in Andrew Voerman’s feature article on Stuff today.