Saturday, June 19, 2010

New Zealand national rugby union team


The New Zealand national rugby union team (known as the All Blacks) represent New Zealand in rugby union which is regarded as the country's national sport. The All Blacks have a winning record against every international rugby team they have played.

New Zealand compete annually with Australia (the Wallabies) and South Africa (the Springboks) in the Tri-Nations Series, and have been Tri-Nations champions nine times in the tournament's 14-year history. New Zealand also holds the Bledisloe Cup, which they currently contest annually with Australia and which includes Tri-Nations games between the countries. They have three times completed a Grand Slam (in 1978, 2005 and 2008) of the four Home Nations.

New Zealand are the number one ranked team in the IRB World Rankings and were named the International Rugby Board (IRB) Team of the Year in 2005, 2006 and 2008. Fourteen former All Blacks have been inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame, one into the IRB Hall of Fame.

The team first competed in 1884 against Cumberland County, New South Wales, and played their first Test match in 1903, a victory against Australia. This was followed by a tour of the northern hemisphere in 1905.

The team's early uniforms consisted of a black jersey with a silver fern and white knickerbockers. By their 1905 tour New Zealand were wearing all black, except for the silver fern, and their All Black name dates from this time. New Zealand traditionally perform a haka (Māori war dance) before each match. Traditionally, the haka performed is Te Rauparaha's Ka Mate, though since 2005, Kapa o Pango, a modified version of the 1924 All Blacks haka, Kia Whaka-ngawari, has occasionally been performed.

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