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New Zealand All Blacks - One Color. Always Black. · Hall of Teams

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Welcome to the Hall of Teams, the podcast where sports legends live again.
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Where founding stories are dusted off like vintage jerseys... Where
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crests nicknames and colors aren't just designs, but identities.
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Where the teams we love are more than scores on a scoreboard,
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they are time capsules of culture, community, and change.
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I'm your host, Kirk Jensen.
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For this episode, I feel as if heavy fog should be oozing up around me.
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With the pounding of ancient drums echoing in my chest, and
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the ache of black throughout.
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Growing up in a small town in Western Canada in the 70s, I
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loved sport and competition.
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My eyes were always being opened to new worlds, flipping through Sports
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Illustrated, or hearing the "Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat"
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on ABC's Wide World of Sports.
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And long before I understood the game of rugby...
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I had heard the name All Blacks.
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And today we stand at the crossroads
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where history trembles beneath stomping feet.
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We journey to the bottom of the world.
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Where fog rolls off jagged cliffs.
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And where the silence waits for the roar.
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Where other teams have colors.
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The All Blacks are a color.
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The most dominant team in the history of rugby, and arguably
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in all of sports history.
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Today we induct that team, a myth, a movement, a nation's soul
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stitched in jet black and silver.
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The Hall of Teams welcomes — the New Zealand All Blacks.
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The modern form of the game of rugby was invented at a school
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in England in the early 1800s.
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At the time, England was expanding its empire and introduced rugby
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to its colonies, like South Africa and Australia in the 1860s.
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In 1870, a young man named Charles Monro returned from his school in
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England, and he stepped off a ship and onto a grassy field in Nelson,
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New Zealand, holding a rugby ball.
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Immediately, rugby became something else.
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Something bigger.
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Māori communities took to the game with astonishing speed and passion.
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Teams formed almost immediately.
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It wasn't just a sport, here it was a new kind of war dance, a battlefield
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of honor, strategy, and strength.
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The Māori people saw in rugby reflection of their own cultural code.
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Whakapapa - Lineage.
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Mana - Honor
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Kotahitanga - Unity.
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In just 10 years, New Zealand sent its first national team abroad to Australia, a
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side that won all eight of their matches.
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In 1888, a predominantly Māori team, proudly calling
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themselves The Natives, set out on a grueling tour.
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They played 107 matches over fourteen months across Britain, Ireland,
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Australia, and New Zealand — an extraordinary schedule in any era.
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And remember, this was New Zealand, a country at the far edge of the world.
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While other teams of the time might spend days on a bus or a train,
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their journey alone to Britain took “seven weeks” — by ship.
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And once there, they played in every condition, against every style,
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winning respect for their skill, resilience and just sheer endurance.
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From these early journeys emerged a powerful fusion — Māori grit, European
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rules, and an unshakable national pride.
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Then came 1905, the tour that would change rugby forever...
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and turn a team into a legend.
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This team was called The Originals.
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Under Captain Dave Gallaher, they set out across the British Isles,
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France, North America, facing the best the rugby world could offer.
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They played 35 matches and won 34.
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Only Wales, in a match still argued about to this day, denied them a perfect record.
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British headlines reached out for superlatives.
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One writer gasped.
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"They came like shadows, and they left like Gods."
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Another marveled.
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"We faced men who played as though the wind itself was watching."
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It was on this tour that the name "All Blacks" first appeared in print in the
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Express & Echo of Devon— praising their
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"Sable and unrelieved costume.”
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And then... there's the legend.
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Some say a London reporter meant to call them the "All Backs," for their
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revolutionary style, and where every man attacked like a "backline player."
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But somewhere between the press room and the printing press...
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a single letter appeared.
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The “All Backs” became the “All Blacks.” Was it a mistake?
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Stroke of genius?
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Or destiny in newsprint?
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To this day, no one can say for certain.
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By November, 1905, the name All Blacks was everywhere in Britain, even if
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back home New Zealand newspapers still called them "The Colonials."
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When the team finally stepped off the ship in March of 1906,
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the Auckland Herald greeted them in bold double column print
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RETURN OF THE ALL BLACKS
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The name had stuck.
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And so had the myth.
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In 1924, the team took their stature to an even higher level.
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The team set sale for the British Isles, France, and Canada.
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They became The Invincibles, a name coined by a French journalist, after
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watching New Zealand dismantle France 30–6 in Toulouse: "Ils sont invincibles!”
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meaning "They are invincible."
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Across 32 matches, they won them all.
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Fourteen were official internationals, including test victories over
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England, Ireland, Wales, and France.
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They amassed 838 points while conceding just 116., Led by Captain Cliff
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Porter, their dominance was so absolute that British newspapers called them
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"the most perfect rugby machine ever assembled."
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The Invincibles didn't just win; they defined the black jersey,
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setting a benchmark every All Black side has chased since.
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Trivia from the Hall - The Try That Time Forgot
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December 16, 1905 — Cardiff Arms Park, Wales.
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The unbeaten All Blacks, fresh off 27 straight victories, met a Welsh
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side brimming with skill and national pride in what was already being
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called "The Match of the Century."
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Late in the game, with Wales leading 3–0, winger Bob Deans broke the
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Welsh line and dived under the posts.
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He swore he'd grounded the ball, but the referee was behind the play, and
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by the time he arrived, Welsh defenders had dragged Deans, back across the line.
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No try.
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Wales held on to win 3–0,
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And Deans never let it go, insisting until his death just three years
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later at age 24—that the try was good.
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More than a century later, it remains one of Rugby's most debated moments,
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a score the scoreboard erased, but the legend refused to forget..
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In 1893,
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Thomas Ellison, influential Māori rugby player, captain and innovator,
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stood before the New Zealand Rugby Football Union with the bold
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proposal: replace the navy jersey and white shorts with the black jersey,
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black shorts, black stockings... and over the heart, a silver fern.
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The fern had long been a symbol in Māori and New Zealand life.
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A sign of strength, endurance, and sacrifice.
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Explorers used it to mark their paths.
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Ellison believed it should also mark the men who carried the
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nation's hopes on a rugby field.
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The Union adopted his proposal, and from that moment, the national
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team would wear all black.
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"The black jersey is stitched with
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expectation, but worn with humility."
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Steve Hansen — Head Coach (2012-2019) That humility is built into the
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jersey's most sacred tradition.
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Each All Black receives his jersey in a private ceremony,
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no cameras, no spectacle.
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Just teammates.
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A circle.
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And a story.
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For 119 years, nothing appeared on the black jersey, but the silver fern.
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Not until 2012 did commercial sponsorship appear — a stark reminder
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of the modern game’s pull, yet the fern still stood alone in meaning.
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"You never own the jersey.
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You are just, its guardian."
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Richie McCaw — Captain (2004–2015)
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Trivia from the Hall #2 - The Silver Fern That Grew from War
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Long before it was stitched onto a rugby jersey, the silver
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fern was carried into battle.
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In the Boer War and World War I,
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Kiwi soldiers pinned fern badges to their uniforms or carved them into rifle
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butts and helmets — a mark that said New Zealander to friend and foe alike.
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By the time the 1924 Invincibles toured Europe, the fern already
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had become more than a design.
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It was a symbol of honor, sacrifice, and identity.
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That dual legacy, forged in war, celebrated in sport, is
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why the fern remains untouched.
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A living memorial every time the All Blacks take the field.
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Before the first pass.
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Before the first tackle.
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There is the haka.
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Not for show.
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Not for hype.
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And to outsiders it can look like pure intimidation.
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To the All Blacks, it is something deeper.
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A call to ancestors, a call to spirit, a call to every ounce of
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pride stitched into the black jersey.
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The haka is their traditional Māori war dance, once performed
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to prepare warriors for battle.
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Its rhythm and movement, carried through centuries of Polynesian ancestry.
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In Māori life, haka are not only for war, they mark celebrations,
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farewells, and moments of unity.
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The first haka, the All Blacks carried onto the world stage was
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the "Ka Mate" penned in the early 1800s by Toa chief Te Rauparaha.
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It's where the story of the chief was fleeing his enemies and
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was hidden in a pit by another chief he called "hairy man".
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And emerging safely into the sunlight, proclaimed,
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"I die!" "I live!" in celebration of his survival.
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The 1905 Originals, stamped those words into rugby history, thirty-five
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men in black standing on frosty British mornings, eyes wide, tongues
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extended, feet pounding the turf.
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The roar rolling through the stands like a coming storm.
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In 2005, a new haka was born: "Kapa o Pango", written
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exclusively for the All Blacks.
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it's opening words declare:
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This is the team in black—
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I will make myself one with the land.
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It is New Zealand that thunders now!
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It is the All Blacks that thunder now!
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The haka is more than a ritual.
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It's the national heartbeat.
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A challenge, and a promise.
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We are here.
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We do not fear.
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Tradition meets its truest test, not in victory, but in defeat.
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For over a century, the All Blacks stood at the summit of world rugby — building
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a legend out of the black jersey, the silver fern, and the thunder of the haka.
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But no dynasty escapes loss.
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Their record remains unmatched, the highest winning percentage in
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the sport's history at 77% — yet it’s the moments of failure that
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have often shaped them the most.
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In 1995, in South Africa, a nation united behind its team brought the
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All Blacks to their knees in a Rugby World Cup final filled with pride,
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politics, and lingering controversy.
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In 1999, France staged a stunning comeback at Twickenham, overturning
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the odds in a semifinal that left the crowd in disbelief.
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In 2007, France struck again, this time in the quarterfinals,
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ending another title bid.
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In 2019, England's precision and relentless discipline halted
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New Zealand's run, denying them a third straight World Cup.
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These were not just defeats, these shook the nation.
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In the stunned silences after the final whistle, you could
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feel a nation hold its breath.
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Each loss stripped a team down to its essence, forcing them to confront
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vulnerabilities and redefine what it meant to wear the all black jersey.
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From each of the defeats came change.
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Longtime leaders retired, new captains emerged, and strategies evolved.
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And then came the pandemic, canceling games, emptying
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stadiums, and breaking routines.
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For a moment, it felt as if rugby's grip on New Zealand life had loosened.
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Fewer kids were playing.
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Crowds wondered aloud "had the magic faded?"
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But the All Blacks have never been a team that stays down.
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For them, pain is not an ending — it is the forge where resolve is reforged.
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Trivia from the Hall - Why it's Called a Try and a Test
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Rugby doesn't just sound different, it speaks its own language.
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Take the most common scoring term: "try".
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Odd name for something that succeeds.
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In early rugby, grounding the ball over the line didn't score points; it gave
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you the right to try for a goal, a chance to kick the ball through the posts.
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The try itself didn't count.
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The kick did.
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Over time, that changed and the try became a score in its own right.
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Then there’s the "test" match — the term for international games.
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Why “test”?
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Because it was exactly that: a test of strength, skill, and national pride.
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Early rugby nations saw these matches as examinations, proving whether your side
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could stand up to the best in the world.
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So, the next time you hear "try" or "test", remember — they’re not just words.
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They’re part of rugby’s DNA.
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From hardship to triumph, the All Blacks have always found a way forward.
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They refuse to let defeat define them.
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In 2011, after 24 long years without a World Cup title,
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they finally lifted the trophy again on home soil.
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In a tense Eden Park final, they edge France 8–7.
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The whistle blew, and Eden Park erupted.
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Streets filled with flags, strangers embraced in the rain, and a nation's
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shoulders seemed to drop in relief.
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Two years later, in 2013, the All Blacks achieved perfection, winning
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all 14 of their test matches.
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The only professional team ever to do so.
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In a sport built on attrition and travel, it was a feat of discipline,
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endurance, and relentless belief.
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In 2015, they became the first team to win back-to-back rugby World
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Cups, outlasting South Africa in the semifinals and defeating their
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arch rivals Australia, in the final.
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As Richie McCaw hoisted the Web Ellis Cup, fireworks cracked above Twickenham,
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the home of English rugby, and the silver fern seemed to glow in the London night.
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In more than a century of test rugby,
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the All Blacks have only been beaten by seven countries, and against
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every one of them, they hold a
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commanding winning record.
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What makes this even more remarkable is perspective: New Zealand's population
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is just five million a fraction of the size of the other nations who
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have reached a World Cup final.
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And yet, all these victories are part of the fabric of the jersey.
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Living proof that the All Blacks spirit renews itself after doubt and hardship.
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Every time the haka echoes, it sends the same message: New Zealand endures.
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The All Blacks persist.
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A living bridge between what they have been… what they are… and what
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they will always be — The Standard.
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Today, the All Blacks face pressure on two fronts.
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On the pitch, the world is caught up.
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France, Ireland and South Africa no longer fear the black jersey, they've
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toppled New Zealand on the biggest stages, proof that global parody has arrived.
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Every win now demands more.
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Off the pitch, the rules of the game are shifting.
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Lucrative offers from Japanese and European clubs tempt
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top Kiwi talent overseas.
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Current eligibility rules require: to wear the silver fern,
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you must play in New Zealand.
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No exceptions.
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It's more than a regulation, it's the thread that ties
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every generation to the jersey.
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That's why the pathway remains sacred.
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From Rip Rugby starting at age five, through school teams, provincial
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clubs, and elite academies, every step drives toward one
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national dream.
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There are no shortcuts.
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"It's about keeping players here.
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It's about keeping the dream here."
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New Zealand Rugby Union
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And the legacy isn't just male.
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The Black Ferns, New Zealand's women's national team, have
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surged onto the World Cup stage.
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World Cup Champions, ranked number two globally, leaders on the field
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and off it, carrying the tradition forward while shaping it for the future.
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Two teams.
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One fern.
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Always black.
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The All Blacks are more than a sports team, they're a legacy
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stitched into the fabric of a nation.
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No team in history has carried more — not just wins or trophies, but the weight
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of a nation's pride, the voice of its ancestors, and the soul of its sport.
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It is with honor and awe, we induct the All Blacks as they take their
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rightful place in the Hall of Teams.
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Picture it, the black jersey, hanging in a silent locker room...
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the silver fern catching the light.
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Share their story.
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Stand for the spirit of the game.
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And remember... black is forever.
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In the Hall of Teams, legends don't just live in the past.
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They rise again, through you.
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This year, you decide who earns the title: Team of the Year.
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And it's more than a title — it’s a legacy without borders.
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Across all sports.
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Across time.
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Across the world.
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Want your team to win?
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Watch the episode.
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Tap “Like.” Comment with #TeamOfTheYear + [Your Team’s Name].
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And don't forget to subscribe, because every voice and every vote counts.
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On December 15th, the team with the most likes, comments and new subscribers
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will be crowned Team of the Year.
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Their logo will be immortalized on the Wall of Honor.
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And remember, you can watch the full New Zealand All Blacks episode on
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the Hall of Teams YouTube channel.
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Thanks for joining us on this legendary journey.
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If there's a team you'd like to nominate for the Hall of Teams,
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drop it in the comments using #Nominate + [Your Team Name].
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From rugby's fiercest tradition... to football's frozen dynasty.
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Join us next time as we brave the cold and the centuries to tell the
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story of the Green Bay Packers — the small-town team that built a kingdom in
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Title Town... and never gave it back.
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Until then, remember:
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Behind every logo... is a legacy.
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And behind every team... a tale worth telling.
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I’m Kirk Jensen — and this is the Hall of Teams.