Jamie George has admitted he was the mastermind behind England’s provocative response to the haka before their historic 24-22 victory over New Zealand at Allianz Stadium, which sealed the first home win against the All Blacks in 13 years.
The 34-year-old hooker revealed he took inspiration from the 2019 World Cup semi-final win, where England performed a similar V-shaped formation. George, the eldest player in the squad, stood on one end of the line with 19-year-old Henry Pollock, the youngest, on the other, while captain Maro Itoje led from the point.
George joked about concerns over giving Pollock such a role, given the back-rower’s reputation for antagonising opponents. “We were quite reluctant to give it to Henry because we weren’t sure what he was going to get up to,” George said. Pollock was seen licking his lips during the haka.
The response drew comparisons to the 1997 incident when Richard Cockerill confronted Norm Hewitt, but George said the aim was to connect with the crowd. “We speak a lot about the connection with the fans,” he added. “A response like that is great but backing it up with the performance was the most important thing.”
George urged his teammates to savour the win, which makes them only the ninth England side to beat the All Blacks. “Be present, enjoy it, this is history,” he said, before turning attention to next Sunday’s match against Argentina.
