England’s players have revealed Eddie Jones was behind the plan to stand in a V-shape when facing the haka before their emphatic World Cup semi-final victory over New Zealand.

Jones’s players lined up in a V-formation while TJ Perenara led New Zealand’s Kapa o Pango haka before kick-off in order to show they were “ready for the fight”, according to Mako Vunipola. Owen Farrell could be seen smiling during the performance on the big screen and New Zealand’s Aaron Smith said afterwards that England’s captain had winked at him while it was taking place.

We’ve beaten the god of rugby but we still must improve, says Eddie Jones Read more

England have a history of countering the haka — in 1997, the players advanced on the All Blacks with Richard Cockerill memorably getting up close and personal with Norm Hewitt before their 26-26 draw. After Saturday’s semi-final, New Zealand’s captain, Kieran Read, insisted it “had no impact on the game” but Manu Tuilagi scored the opening try inside 98 seconds.

Tuilagi said it was designed to show that England were “ready for anything”. In 2008 Wales stood their ground after New Zealand’s haka while France formed an arrow before the 2011 World Cup final. On both occasions, the All Blacks went on to win.

“We talked about it as a team but everything has to get past the boss,” said Mako Vunipola. “He gave us the idea. We wanted to be respectful but we wanted to also make sure that they understood that we would be ready for the fight. We knew it would rile them up, it probably felt like we disrespected them.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest England players look on while New Zealand players perform the haka. Photograph: Richard Heathcote/World Rugby via Getty Images

“We meant no offence by it, we just wanted to let them know that we were ready for the challenge ahead. There have been a few times in the past when the All Blacks have done that and blown the opposition away. We put accountability on ourselves to back it up and I thought we did.”

The Breakdown: sign up and get our weekly rugby union email.



France were fined £2,500 by World Rugby for their formation and Vunipola hinted that England may face a similar punishment, with Joe Marler creeping closer to the All Blacks than his teammates. “He said he got confused,” Vunipola added. “He thought he was supposed to go all the way around it and go to their 10m line. But because of that, he’s the one who has to pay the fine. He dishes it out a lot so the boys would be more than happy if he has to pay it.”

Owen Farrell added: “We wanted to keep a respectful distance but we didn’t just want to stand in a flat line and let them come at us.”