England responded to New Zealand’s haka in confrontational style, moving towards the All Blacks in unison to end up on the halfway line at Twickenham.
The haka was the talk of the week after England’s Joe Marler called for it to be scrapped in the build-up, and England’s response was arguably their most confrontational since the infamous incident between Richard Cockerill and Norm Hewitt in 1997.
England started five metres further forward than usual, walking another five metres together.
The crowd roared and sang Swing Low as England encroached on New Zealand’s haka, who ended up almost standing on the ankles of the cameramen in between the teams.
Ellis Genge was the last to turn away from the visitors and Jamie George, who had said on Thursday that his team were planning a response, grinned in anticipation.
Former England scrum-half Matt Dawson praised the move on the BBC: “What’s the fine? £2,000? Go on England, get over the halfway line and go nose to nose. I think we’d all have chipped in a fiver for that!”
England had repeated their ploy from July, when they stepped forward from the 10-metre line as one, as if to greet the challenge laid down by Scott Robertson’s men.
New Zealand, for their part, also finished their Ka Mate routine close to halfway, having started in a huddle behind their own 10-metre line.
In that respect, the teams fulfilled the wishes of Marler, the England prop who courted controversy earlier in the week. Marler initially called for the haka to be “binned” before explaining that the best renditions hinge upon a sense of confrontation when sides are allowed to face up at close quarters.
Marler, who has withdrawn from the England squad for personal reasons and is said to be unlikely to feature over the course of the autumn, was seen exchanging friendly words with Robertson prior to kick-off.
Following a week of back-and-forth between the camps, with New Zealand captain Scott Barrett warning that Marler had “loaded the gun”, the upshot was huge volume and a crackle of expectation.
New Zealand were last here in 2022 for an extraordinarily frenetic game in which they ran out to a 17-0 lead and were 22-6 in front before conceding three late tries. England rescued a 25-25 draw in what would ultimately prove to be Eddie Jones’ penultimate game as head coach.
A week later, South Africa’s 27-13 win at Twickenham persuaded the Rugby Football Union to sack the Australian.
