South Africa apologizes to New Zealand after music, fireworks and plane disrupt haka

New Zealand performs haka in Johannesburg as South Africa looks on — The All Blacks perform the haka in Johannesburg – Shutterstock/Kim Ludbrook

The South African Rugby Union has apologized to New Zealand for weakening the haka ahead of last Saturday’s match between the Springboks and the All Blacks, blaming the gaffes on a blind sound engineer.

Towards the end of the haka performance at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, music was played over the stadium speakers and fireworks were set off. An A380 airliner also flew over the ground before the ritual ended.

The timing of these developments sparked widespread criticism online and Damian McKenzie, the New Zealand fly-half, said he “probably didn’t agree with it as much”.

The SARU said it had written to the NZRFU to “formally apologize” that the haka had been “obscured” before a convincing contest won 31-27 by the hosts.

“I have apologized in person and have written to the NZRFU to formally express our regret and apologies for what happened,” SA Rugby chief executive Rian Oberholzer said.

“There was never any question of scheduling activities to coincide with such an iconic moment of a test match against the All Blacks. This happened due to timing issues and simple human error.

“In the confusion, the crowd’s enthusiastic cheers were confused with the conclusion of the haka by a blind sound engineer who restarted the musical program. This was very regrettable but by no means deliberate.

Cape Town hosts the second leg of the Rugby Championship double-header this weekend, with Scott Robertson’s All Blacks needing a win to keep their slim chances of winning the competition alive.

South Africa, meanwhile, would be on course to win their first title since 2019 if they win. Regardless, Oberholzer promised that a repeat of the Johannesburg incidents would not occur.

“The values and traditions of the game are close to our hearts,” he added. “These unfortunate events in no way represent a lack of respect by South African rugby for the importance and history of the haka. We will ensure that such errors do not happen again.