Former Wallabies captain John Eales has opened up about one of the biggest regrets of his rugby career - turning his back on the All Blacks haka.
In the first Test of the 1996 Bledisloe Cup at Wellington's Athletic Park, Eales and the rest of the Wallabies squad controversially ran warm-up drills during the All Blacks' pre-match ritual.
The All Blacks would later run in six tries and win 43-6, inflicting what was, at the time, the Wallabies heaviest ever defeat.
Ahead of the release of his documentary John Eales reveals: The Haka, the 47-year-old told The AM Show the incident was one of the lowest points of his career.
"I did have doubts - it was my third or fourth Test as captain, so I didn't have the confidence or experience to stand up for what I believed in at that point," he said.
"Our coach at the time, Greg Smith, was sitting on the plane on the way to New Zealand and we were talking about the tactics and he said 'I'd been thinking, we shouldn't face the haka this weekend'.
"That was something I didn't believe in - but I didn't say anything, so I blame myself and not Greg.
"As captain, it was my decision and I should have made the call on that one."
Eales played 86 Tests for the Wallabies and is widely regarded as the most successful captain in Australian rugby history, playing a major part in both of their World Cup-winning campaigns.
He also had a 55 percent winning record as captain against the All Blacks.
The documentary will air on the Discovery Channel this Sunday at 7:30pm.
Newshub.
