Zulu dance could rival the haka

Published on Thursday 19 July 2007 01:37

THE Springboks are considering matching the All Blacks' haka at the rugby World Cup with a Zulu war dance they haven't used in 80 years.

South Africa coach Jake White says he has talked with national officials about reproducing the Zulu dance to answer the famed challenge New Zealand rugby teams have been performing before games for almost 120 years.

"The history books show that the 1926 Springboks performed a Zulu war dance in major matches on their tour," White said. "New Zealand have come up with a new haka recently and, quite honestly, I would like to use ours as a challenge to them.

"We have done this challenge before in our team room in the four years since I have been involved as coach, but it hasn't really taken off as an idea to do it in public. Not yet, anyway.

"This is no gimmick - it is a part of our rugby history and tradition."