A STUNNING video featuring the All Blacks’ rugby war cry The Haka performed at some of Killarney’s most iconic locations is becoming a smash hit on YouTube after it was produced for a novel nationwide competition.
The Killarney Rugby Club project features authentic Māori John Nikora joining forces with some of the club’s most promising young players to perform the dramatic ancestral combat dance at spectacular local landmarks.
New Zealand native Nikora, now living in Killarney where he is the first team coach with the local club, is filmed wide-eyed, bare-chested and heavily tattooed at Ladies View as he summons his warriors to action in a dramatic manner.
Back at ground level, nine Killarney RFC players play their part in the legendary sporting and cultural ritual at scenic locations including Muckross House, Ross Castle and Torc Waterfall.
The spectacular production, which runs to just under two minutes and features superb aerial camerawork, was filmed and scripted for a creative Irish Haka video competition promoted by supermarket giant Lidl.
The winning entry will receive €2,500 to purchase playing gear and Killarney RFC hopes to be top of the pile when the adjudication decision is made in the very near future.
Irish internationals Paddy Jackson and Ian Madigan are offering expert support and advice to the competition team and factors to be considered by the judges will be content, costumes and location and hopes are high that the beauty of Killarney might assist in the latter.
The Killarney entry was written and directed by club coach Fergus Cronin while the creative camera work and editing process was the work of John C O’Shea of Studio 51 Killarney. John Herlihy was sound supervisor.
“We’re very happy with the end result, particularly as the weather was against us,” said John C O’Shea.
“We filmed it on the only good day we had in February and we had it done in half a day.”
The Killarney RFC players involved in the Haka sketch were Matt Lane, Sean Cremin, David Leen, Mike O’Donoghue, Aaron Jones, Oisin O’Shea, Joe McAuliffe, Tom Campbell and Broghan Edmonds.
The progressive Killarney Rugby Club is currently developing a new state-of-the-art base at Aghadoe, Killarney.
The YouTube video can be seen here:
