Sinckler eagerly anticipates Haka

Kyle Sinckler is looking forward to facing the infamous Haka at Twickenham, but stresses the performance that follows must take priority.

“It’s all good doing that to the Haka and having a response but what matters is doing the business on the field,” Sinckler said.

The importance of the performance that England put in after the Haka was also reinforced by forwards coach Richard Cockerill.

He said: “Ultimately it’s what we do after the haka that’s the most important thing. We can all stand up to the Haka. We can’t all do what happens next for the next 80 minutes. The most important part if making sure we’re focused for the first kick off.”

Sinckler was a member of the England World Cup team in 2019 who memorably chose to face the Haka in a ‘V’ shape.

For him, that formation is only still discussed now because of the subsequent performance the team put in.

He said: “It was a big occasion and it definitely got the crowd going and took everyone by surprise but again, if we’d lost that game by 20/30 points and didn’t put a performance on the field we wouldn’t even be speaking about it today.

“The reason you still bring it up is because of the performance on the field and how we executed the game plan. At the end of the day, all that matters is the actions on the field and the result.”

As a player, England forwards coach Cockerill famously faced the Haka in 1997, controversially squaring up to his opposite number Norm Hewitt.

Cockerill described facing the Haka to be a motivating factor for the team, while simultaneously maintaining respect the Māori culture.

He added: “Personally when I’ve faced it it’s been more of a motivator than a demotivator, It doesn’t make me scared, It makes me more motivated. You have to use that.

“A lot of our guys will have played against NZ before so they have seen it. There’ll be guys out here for the first time against the All Blacks. Part of that is facing the haka. It’s part of the game. We respect their team and their culture.

“I have no regrets over what I did and I think it’s a sign of respect of the Māori culture. We’ll deal with it how we see fit. It’s great theatre and it will be part of a big day.”

With a host of young players in the squad who are yet to have faced an All Blacks side, Sinckler put an importance on passing down wisdom.

He said: “We had a meeting in the week. It’s a new squad. There are a lot of guys who have played against the All Blacks and a big contingent who haven’t.

“It’s quite important to pass that knowledge down. It is different. Test match rugby is the pinnacle but when you play the All Blacks it is different. We have been very aware of passing down that knowledge to the younger players in the squad.”

The Twickenham home crowd will be hugely influential as the team face the All Blacks, who are currently on a six game winning streak. The crowd are encouraged to show their support and drown out the noise of the Haka.

“It’s a home game and we want a partisan crowd who are on our side. If they can drown out the noise of them doing the Haka then let’s bring it on,” Cockerill said.

As for England’s formation to face the Haka, Sinckler kept the team’s cards close to his chest, saying “You’ll have to wait and see.”

Written by Imogen Ainsworth