Le rugby

The national rugby team of New Zealand, a former British colony in the South Seas, is nicknamed The All Blacks and wear as a consequence black only jerseys, trunks and socks when on field. This name originated in a misprint in a newspaper article written after a game. The sport journalist praised the members of the team as They are all backs meaning they all moved the ball fast and efficiently like backline players, whereas forward liners rely more on power and weight than on agility. The typist changed the sentence to They are all blacks, the unvolontary mistake stuck as a fine joke. Maoris were considered non white in colonial times, so the pun might have a deeper sense. The white players might have wanted to express comradship with their Maori team mates.

We see here a line out phase, a player throws the ball over the heads of two lines of players who will jump to catch it and start running towards the opponent’s goal line. One of them will be lifted up by his team mates to be able to get the ball. This training action is being watched by an audience of interested fans. The complex game will be learnt and trained regularly, so that rules are understood and followed carefully, until a team is ready to play well and fair.

L'équipe de Nouvelle-Zélande a gagné le surnom de All-blacks, ce qui signifie tout noir en anglais.

Historiquement, ce n'est pas lié au fait que cette équipe évolue en noir mais à une coquille d'un journaliste sportif lors d'une tournée de l'équipe en Europe. Subjugué par le talent de ces joueurs, un journaliste écrivit : They are all backs, Ce sont tous des arrières. En effet, en rugby, on dissocie les lignes avants des lignes arrières. Historiquement, les arrières maniaient plus le ballon que les avants, chargés des phases de conquêtes et du défi physique. En écrivant They are all backs, le journaliste voulait signifier que les joueurs néo-zélandais étaient si doués balle en main qu'on aurait dit que tous évoluaient à l'arrière. La personne qui a relu l'article avant sa publication n'a pas compris le sens de la formule et a corrigé : They are all blacks. La légende était en marche…