Perhaps being down in Australia this week, I’m a bit more aware of non-US centric sports, like, the Melbourne Cup, and the Rugby World Cup (which I think happened in London a couple of days ago).

For background, the Rugby World Cup championship ended up being Australia vs. New Zealand. The New Zealand All Blacks are widely viewed as one of, if not, the best rugby teams in the world, year after year.

Well, they flew home on an Air New Zealand plane (appropriately, in the All Black livery), and were welcomed home by Air New Zealand staff, with this:

If you’re wondering what the symbolism is here, it has to do with Maori tradition:

The Haka
For most non-Maori New Zealanders today their knowledge of the Haka is perhaps limited to that most performed of Haka called “Ka mate, Ka mate”, which was composed by Ngati Toa Chieftain Te Rauparaha around 1820. Many sports teams and individuals travelling from New Zealand overseas tend to have the haka “Ka mate” as part of their programme. The sports team that has given the haka the greatest exposure overseas has been the All Blacks, who perform it before their matches. It has become a distinctive feature of the All Blacks.

So, there you have it. A cool video of Air New Zealand staff, and learning something new.