The South African Rugby Union has apologised to New Zealand for undermining the haka before last Saturday’s meeting between the Springboks and the All Blacks, attributing the gaffes to an unsighted sound engineer.
Towards the end of the haka performance at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, music was played over the stadium speakers and fireworks went off. An A380 airliner also flew over the ground before the ritual had been completed.
The timing of these developments drew widespread online criticism and Damian McKenzie, the New Zealand fly-half, said that he “probably didn’t agree with it as much”.
SARU explained they had written to the NZRFU to “formally apologise” that the haka had been “obscured” prior to a compelling contest that was won 31-27 by the hosts.
“I apologised in person and have written to the NZRFU to formally express our regret and apologies for what occurred,” said Rian Oberholzer, the SA Rugby chief executive.
“It was never the intention to schedule any activities that would coincide with such an iconic moment of any Test match against the All Blacks. That it occurred was a result of timekeeping challenges and simple human error.
“In the confusion, the crowd’s excited cheering was mistaken to have marked the conclusion of the haka by an unsighted sound engineer who restarted the music programme. It was highly regrettable but in no way deliberate.”
Cape Town stages the second instalment of the back-to-back Rugby Championship double-header this weekend, with Scott Robertson’s All Blacks in need of a victory to keep alive their slim chances of winning the competition.
South Africa, meanwhile, would be on the verge of a first title since 2019 if they won. Either way, Oberholzer promised that a repeat of the Johannesburg incidents would not happen.
“We hold dear the values and traditions of the game,” he added. “The unfortunate events in no way represent any lack of respect that South African rugby holds for the significance and history of the haka. We will ensure such errors cannot be repeated.”
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