On their tour of the United Kingdom, the Maori rugby team will wear a black jersey emblazoned with the silver fern, the Maori All Blacks name, the Adidas and BNZ logos, and a Maori design imbued with cultural meaning and imagery.
This uniform reflects the complex relationships and identities that are meshed together to create this phenomenon we can now refer to as the Maori All Blacks. They are a team with a history longer than that of the All Blacks, who have survived several social and economic movements threatening their existence and relevance.
Some may feel that having sponsors taints the cultural significance of this team, but being commercially viable is a necessity these days, and with Adidas, Aotearoa Fisheries Ltd, BNZ, and AIG partnering with the NZRU, the future sustainability of this team looks promising.
If the All Black jersey stands for excellence, the Maori All Black jersey stands for resilience. Both jerseys are imbued with the values of innovation, pride and heritage so the recent changes to the name, sponsors, and look of the Maori jersey reflect that.
Through selection, individuals are given the opportunity to step up to the challenge of being proud and capable rugby representatives, men, Maori, and New Zealanders. They have stoic Jamie Joseph at the helm, with an equally strong-minded Daryl Gibson by his side to ensure the legacy continues.
Both men have demonstrated they are no-nonsense individuals who stand by their principles.
Gibson, for instance, turned down a coaching role with the Crusaders after being involved with the highly successful franchise for four years, and Joseph has shown he has guts naming Willie Ripia as the only specialist first five for the tour, despite his spectacular fall from grace with the Western Force, his gambling addiction, and his lack of game time at an elite level.
Under the principled guidance of management and other senior players, Ripia has been given a second chance to redeem himself by reconnecting with values such as kinship (whanaungatanga), unity (kotahitanga), caring (aroha) and respect (manaakitanga) as well as those values associated with the All Black brand.
Along with the coaches and kaumatua (Luke Crawford), captain Tanerau Latimer also has the right mix of rugby experience and cultural knowledge to guide the many youngsters on this tour - a tour that is not only a rugby tour, but a cultural tour.
I already know of several players who have done their homework with regards to their Maori heritage as a result of being selected. If it takes being named in this team for these conversations and connections to occur, then that can only be a good thing.
There is nothing like the "pressure" of delivering your mihimihi or pepeha (introductions) to peers to push a personal cultural journey out of neutral. And isn't that what representing your people and your country should be about? About striving for excellence, being proud of where you come from and who you represent, and about challenging yourself to reach new heights of achievement and depths of understanding?
The NZRU used to have a motto that "better people make better players" and I'm a firm believer that those who know where they come from and where they are going tend to be healthier and happier citizens of the world, and as a result better players. The fact that 10 Maori players were not available for this team because they were included in the All Blacks is testament to the opportunities that may present themselves on tour.
Who knows how many future All Blacks are in this team waiting for their chance to step up for the first time or resurrect themselves.
Although this tour doesn't involve international games against tier 1 unions, the tour still provides top-level opposition. Leicester Tigers are a highly successful club team, and the game against the RFU Championship XV will be a unique one that pits the "best of English" against the "best of Maori".
And last but not least, the game against Canada will be a chance for the Maori team to reconnect with Canada, a team they have played against as part of the Churchill Cup in 2004, 2006 and 2007.
The jersey, sponsors and team name keep changing but the purpose and wairua (spirit) of the team remains relatively constant. Whether you like it or not, this Maori team represents a specific aspect of New Zealand's history and thus identity to the world, one that seeks to demonstrate our cultural uniqueness as well as our rugby supremacy.
