N.Zealand's Maori, sevens teams go All Black

WELLINGTON (AFP) –

The New Zealand team performs the Haka after winning the cup final at the Rugby Sevens tournament in Wellington, in February. N.Zealand’s sevens and Maori teams have been given the right to use the country’s revered All Blacks name, according to the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU).

New Zealand’s sevens and Maori rugby teams have been given the right to use the country’s revered All Blacks name, according to the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU).

The teams, previously known as the New Zealand sevens and New Zealand Maori, will be officially referred to as the All Blacks sevens and Maori All Blacks, the NZRU said.

Until now, the All Blacks moniker has been used only by New Zealand’s world champion 15-a-side national team and the Junior All Blacks.

The sevens and Maori teams already wear black jerseys featuring the national silver fern emblem, so the name change brings them in line with the existing All Blacks, NZRU chief executive Steve Tew said.

But he conceded that there were also commercial reasons for the change, saying it would make the sevens and Maori teams more attractive to sponsors.

“(It) allows us to create more reasons for international companies to associate with the All Blacks and New Zealand rugby by convincing them that the brand has real global reach,” he said.

But for individuals, Tew said that only players who had been capped with the senior 15-a-side team would have the right to call themselves an All Black.

New Zealand adopted the All Blacks title during a tour of Britain in 1905 after previously being known as “Maorilanders” or “Colonials”.