Australia and New Zealand’s captains have revealed they were both perplexed by the tense staredown scenes between their sides following the haka on Saturday night.
The Kiwis completed their traditional pre-game war dance and were about to begin walking to their side of the field, but they didn’t because the Kangaroos remained arm-in-arm in their boomerang shape.
A staring contest ensued with the players 10 metres apart, before New Zealand captain James Fisher-Harris led his men straight up and into the faces of the Australians.
Sharks teammates Nicho Hynes and Ronaldo Mulitalo were touching foreheads as the Melbourne crowd grew louder.
The rare interaction between the Test rivals lasted about a minute before the players shook hands and Fisher-Harris said the scenes weren’t premeditated.
“To be honest we were just going to the 50m and they wanted to stare at us so we went right up to them,” he said.
“We were supposed to be on the (that) side so I was pretty much just telling them to go to the other side.
“It was a bit weird… I don’t know what was going on really, but it would have looked pretty cool.”
Kangaroos captain James Tedesco also admitted he wasn’t sure what was going on but was proud of his men for standing tall.
“We weren’t sure. Obviously you’ve got to respect the haka and then it finished and we were just sort of staring at each other for a bit,” Tedesco said.
“So we weren’t really sure what the process was but you’ve just got to pay your respects and hold our boomerang strong which is what we did.
“In most games they get right in your face and that’s all part of the process.”
Australia won the clash 36-18 and the sides will meet again in the Pacific Championships final in Hamilton next Saturday night.
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