Australian rugby chant term?

[Earl Snake-Hips Tucker]

I did not actually see this, myself. Here is my interpretation of what someone told me.

While he was watching the Australian All-Blacks get ready for the game, they went thru some exercise doing a chant. The way he described the exercise, it sounded sorta like the Maori warriors psych-out routine, where they stamp around and such.

Anyway, the announcer said (according to him), "Now [some player] is leading the and "some player" is leading the ??????"

So what was he leading? My co-worker thought it started with an "h" and apparently be roughly synonymous with "chant" or "war cry." It could be some English, Australian, Aboriginal, or even Maori word.

Any ideas???

[messiah]

They were probably doing the "huka".
The allblacks are not Australian but are New Zealanders (Kiwis)
The huka is a traditional maori song/dance, take a look at this site for more details

http://nzrugby.co.nz/history/history_haka.html

[Colibri]

That's haka, messiah, but that's a good link.

And Mjollnir, the Kiwis would probably stone you for suggesting the All-Blacks were Australian, of all things. ;) That's like telling a Bostonite you thought the Red Sox were from New York.

Hakas are a traditional Maori form of greeting or sometimes challenge; I once saw a group of Maori reggae fans greet Toots and the Maytals at the Wellington airport by performing one.

It's a very peculiar custom. Try to imagine a U.S. NFL team (the players) doing an Apache war dance before every game.

[Earl Snake-Hips Tucker]

Yeah, that's a big faux pas. My co-worker thought they were Aussies, and I took him at his word.