Taringa whakarongo! Kia rite! Kia rite! Kia mau! Hi! Ki-a whaka-whenua au i a-hau! 1 Hi! Au-e, Hi! Ko Aotearoa e ngu-ngu-ru nei! 2 Au, Au, Au-ë Ha! Ko kapa o pango e ngu-ngu-ru nei! Au, Au, Au-ë Ha! I ahaha!3 Ka tū te ihi-ihi 4 Ka tū te wana-wana. Ki runga ki te rangi 5 E tū iho nei E tū iho nei. Hi! Ponga rä! 6 Kapa o Pango, Au-e, Hi! Ponga rä! Kapa o Pango, Au-ë, Hi! HA!!!

Listen up now! Get ready! Line up! Hold fast! Let me be one with the land! New Zealand is rumbling here! The team in black is rumbling here! Face up to the fear Fight the terror To the sky above Fight up there, high up there. Yeah! Our shadows fall! Team in Black! Yeah! Silver Fern! Team in Black! Yeah! HAHH!

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Origins

Kapa o Pango is a slightly modified version of the haka Ko Niu Tireni that was used to help the All Black "Invincibles" win all 32 games during their 1924-25 six nation tour.

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Line by line 1. Kia whakawhenua au i ahau! .    Let me be one with the land. The land and the team are both vibrating with tremendous pent-up energy. 2. Ko kapa o pango e ngunguru nei!    The team in black is rumbling here! These lines are modified from the opening lines of the ancient Ngati Porou battle haka, Ko Ruaumoko e ngunguru nei... Ruaumoko is the god of earthquakes and volcanoes. Life in New Zealand is greatly influenced by large earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. 3. Au, Au-e Ha! I ah-a-ha! The explosive breathing and arm-pumping stimulates adrenalin release, energising the team-members' bodies and focusing their minds.

Tu An old Polynesian word, stand. For Maori, tu can also mean stand tall, stand fast, make a stand, engage in combat. ...Tu-mata-uenga 'He who stands fierce eyed' The god of battle, the spirit that energizes the All Blacks.

4. Ka tu te ihiihi, ka tu te wanawana
 Face up to the fear, fight the terror.
An adrenalin rush! There are layers of meanings here. Variations on these lines are used in many old pre-European Maori chants, and are still often used at the end of a haka today, especially of the haka Ruaumoko.

5. Ki runga ki te rangi
   To the sky above
Nihoniho says that the warriors' legs will attain the heavens (ie. they will achieve the impossible) if they are fully unified in action.

6. Ponga ra!
   Our shadows fall!
In the translation released by the NZRU, this is translated as "Silver Fern!"

The ponga, or silver fern, is a tree-fern unique to New Zealand. It has water-conserving hairs on its underside, which make the underside look silver.

The silver ponga fronds could be laid on forest floors to guide to guide war parties at night, and are still used to guide hunters back home. Thus the "silver fern" was used as an emblem on the uniforms of NZ sportsmen, guiding them to their desired goal.

But Ponga ra! Ponga ra! is the opening line of the 1880s version of the old haka Te Kiri Ngutu (see below).

And Sir Apirana Ngata translates these words as The shadows fall! The shadows fall! a warning of the spiritual darkness falling across communities as others snatch their land from them.

The old word for "darkness" in Western Polynesia was "Ponga," and later this was shortened in East Polynesia to "Po." (See the full darkness list)

So when the All Blacks shout Ponga ra! perhaps they are identifying themselves as dark forest giants whose shadows are about to darken the enemy-held territory and re-take possession of it.

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Vital energy on a knife edge Derek Lardelli explained his reason for including this gesture. "Kapa O Pango ends with the word 'Ha,' or the breath of life. The words and motions represent drawing vital energy into the heart and lungs." In traditional Maori use, the cupped hand is drawn across the throat to show energy being dragged into the body. But by doing this with a raised thumb, Mr Lardelli modified it into a knife-wielding gesture, to show that each team member is at the cutting edge of personal performance.

Derek Lardelli

References