"We've been doing it the last two weeks in Tonga. The public there is crazy, every day we did it two, three times a day.
"It's preparing to go into war. I think it's the same as Ka Mate so it's quite significant."
For the cup-opener the 34-year-old flanker believes a simultaneous All Black haka/Tongan sipi tau will be less enjoyable for all fans.
"I think even the people at home watching on telly, I think they would prefer to see one doing it and then the other."
Tournament rules mean it will be up to Tonga when they respond.
Protocol dictates team A - in this case the All Blacks - start with either Ka Mate or Kapa o Pango, but it's at Tonga's discretion whether they choose to respond at the same time as the haka, or once it is completed. Both are permitted under the rules.
Former Massey University arts academic Hufanga Dr Okusitino Mahina said the sipi tau was war poetry. Not for nothing did Tongans know rugby as "faiva tau'akapulu", which literally means the performance art of going to war with a ball.
Being gentlemanly didn't suit the sipi tau, Dr Mahina said.
"I mean you don't wait for the other side to play, they stop and we play. You don't.
"The whole sipi tau was transplanted from war. I prefer they do it more or less at the same time because both sides are geared up ... isn't the whole thing that they do war on the field?"
He hoped that when the time came, the Tongans would rise to the occasion.
"The moana Pacific [polynesian] haka is nowhere near the All Blacks' haka in terms of ferocity of the performance.
"It must be performed with beauty because it's an art form, ferocity and a greater degree of brutality. That's something our Pacific teams haven't achieved yet."
Tongan players received their caps as part of yesterday's ceremony and hundreds of their fans sang hymns and danced.
Many dressed up in coloured wigs, nurses' uniforms and looked as if they were heading to party at the Wellington Sevens.
Kaumatua Brian Joyce said New Zealanders could learn a thing a two from the Pacific Island nation.
"No one knows how to celebrate like these Tongans," he joked, "they've gotten out of hand down here today."
TONGA SIPI TAU
Ei e! Ei e!
Teu lea pea tala ki mamani katoa
Ko e'ikale taki kuo halofia
Ke'ilo'e he sola moe taka
Koe'aho ni teu tamate tangata
'A e haafe mo e tautua'a
Kuo hu'i hoku anga tangata
He! He!'Ei e. Tu
Teu peluki e molo moe foueti taka
Pea ngungu mo ha loto fita'a
Keu mate ai he ko hoku loto
Ko Tonga pe mate ki he moto
Ko Tonga pe mate ki he moto
'Ei e! Ei e!
English translation
I shall speak to the whole world
The sea eagle is starved
Let the foreigner and sojourner beware
Today, destroyer of souls I am, everywhere
To the half back and the backs
I have shed my human characteristics
Maul and loose forwards I shall mow
And crunch any fierce hearts you know
I drink the ocean and consume the fire
To death or victory my will is fine
That's how Tonga gives to her motto
To her motto, Tonga gives all
To her motto, Tonga gives all
Hi! Hi!
