2019 Rugby World Cup: 'Zig to their zag' - How England's haka response set tone for stunning victory over All Blacks

England players look on in their 'V' formation while the All Blacks perform the haka. Photo / Getty

Each journey, no matter how long, starts with a small step. How significant was England's reverse V formation in response to the All Blacks' haka before their stunning World Cup semifinal win over the defending champions? In the end it seemed pretty important for many reasons, not least their determination to change the usual narrative.

"We went in there knowing we weren't going to take a backward step and we showed that from the outset," lock Courtney Lawes, one of the many superb England forwards at Yokohama Stadium, said. "They are the first moments you get in front of them so it's important to show we weren't going to go backwards."

Also, England were the zig to the All Blacks' zag at that moment. It all fitted neatly, and now, looking back, it was all so obvious. It was there for all to see at the start and they somehow backed it up throughout this 19-7 victory, their first World Cup success against the All Blacks.

England were dominant, the All Blacks strangely passive. The men in white had all the energy, their opposites in black struck by a strange apathy. The victors had all the ideas, the All Blacks very few.

Referee Nigel Owens and his assistants made vague waving motions at Joe Marler and Billy Vunipola and company as they encroached into the All Blacks' territory as the defending champions assembled for the kapa o pango challenge, but they were studiously ignored. They weren't going anywhere before kick-off, or after, for that matter.

England players look on in their 'V' formation while the All Blacks perform the haka. Photo / Getty

Lawes confirmed England captain Owen Farrell arranged the response in a meeting a few days prior. "I wasn't involved in the meeting but obviously Faz put it to us and said that's what we'll do," he said.

Farrell, the second-five who appeared to be troubled by a leg injury in the first half but battled on regardless, said: "We wanted to not just stand there and let them come at us. We wanted to keep a respectful distance and be respectful to that but we didn't just want to stand in a flat line."

Lawes said: "I kind of felt it made them more up for it. As soon as we started moving forward they accepted the challenge. I thought it was good."

No, he said, England didn't study previous haka. "Not really. It's not really part of the game plan – they can't score any tries from it, so we weren't too worried about it."

And no, he said he wasn't aware of the match officials attempting to usher them back to their side of halfway. "I don't know, I was in the middle… hopefully I don't get fined," he added.

And, no, it didn't trouble the All Blacks in the slightest or have any impact on the game according to Steve Hansen's men. But then then that's not a huge surprise either.

"You always expect a team might do something like that," midfielder Anton Lienert-Brown said. "It didn't change anything. Good on them for doing it. The haka is for us, it's about us, so it didn't really bother us."

Prop Ofa Tuungafasi: "The haka is about us as All Blacks and about connecting as a team. It's what we do. It brings us together so I didn't really take much notice of what the English were doing."

Halfback Aaron Smith: "We don't really do it to scare them or anything. We do it to represent us and the people of New Zealand. The All Blacks have been doing it for 110 years. It's about us. I was looking at the guy straight opposite me and that was Owen Farrell and he was giving me a few winks."

"It had no impact on the game," skipper Kieran Read said. "That's what they wanted to do and that's what they did."

It was a bit like England's desire to beat the All Blacks – this was only their third win against New Zealand away from Twickenham - and put themselves into a first World Cup final since 2007. That's what they wanted to do and that's what they did.