All Blacks to wear poppies in Welsh test

NZPA

Last updated 11:06 07/11/2009

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The All Blacks will join their Welsh rivals in wearing poppies on their rugby jerseys here tomorrow as the teams mark Remembrance Day with a pre-test ceremony.

All Blacks manager Darren Shand said the team had agreed to the Welsh Rugby Union's (WRU) request to have the poppies embroidered on their jerseys, with Remembrance Day falling on Sunday to commemorate the end of World War 1.

Each New Zealand player's jersey for tomorrow's test would have the red poppy on the right sleeve.

"We were more than happy to, given New Zealand's role in the war and the number of All Blacks who were involved, and died, in the war," Shand said.

"We thought it was very appropriate."

The 1905 All Blacks captain Dave Gallaher, who led the team in their famous 0-3 defeat to Wales at Cardiff Arms Park, was killed in World War 1.

The All Blacks honour him with the Dave Gallaher Trophy contested against France, who they meet in Marseille on November 28.

The last time the All Blacks wore poppies on their jerseys was in the 2006 French test in Lyon, which fell on Bastille Day.

The WRU has instructed the teams to walk onto Millennium Stadium together before tomorrow's kickoff, with both captains Richie McCaw and Ryan Jones carrying wreaths which will be presented to war veterans on the field.

The Last Post will then be played before the two national anthems, then the All Blacks' haka.

Shand said there had been no request for the All Blacks to perform the haka earlier, as the WRU did in 2006 when they scheduled it to occur before the anthems. The All Blacks reacted by performing the haka in a corridor outside their dressing room.

Shand said the International Rugby Board (IRB) had set down protocols that dictate all cultural performances by teams take place after the anthems.

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