The South African Rugby Union has written to the New Zealand Rugby Football Union to formally apologise for a sequence of events that led to the conclusion of the Haka being obscured during Saturday’s Castle Lager Rugby Championship Test between the Springboks and the All Blacks at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg.
The closing moments of the Haka were overlaid by music and fireworks – as well as a flyover by an A380 airliner – as pre-planned scheduling failed to be observed.
“I apologised in person and have written to the NZRFU to formally express our regret and apologies for what occurred,” said Rian Oberholzer, CEO of SA Rugby.
“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.”
Oberholzer said that SA Rugby was distressed by the breach of protocol and the apparent display of lack of respect it may have suggested.
“We hold dear the values and traditions of the game,” said Oberholzer. “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.”
The second Test between the teams in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship will be played at DHL Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday.