evidence: When Hinewehi Mohi was asked to sing the national anthem before New Zealand’s 1999 quarterfinal against England, she made a choice that would change the pregame ritual for good. Don Rowe reports. [...] At a sold-out Twickenham, before a quarterfinals match with England, then ‘diva-for-hire’ Hinewehi Mohi dropped the English words to ‘God Defend New Zealand’ and sung only in te reo Māori. Mohi had performed ‘E Ihowa Atuā’ at netball and league games before, but it was the first time the song had been tied so closely to the All Blacks – and all without permission from the powers that be. [...] Mohi left the field rapturous. More than 70,000 people had seen te reo inextricably linked to the nation’s greatest sportsmen in person, and around the world, the press became aware an anthem in te reo even existed at all. But as positive as the immediate reaction may have been, Mohi was soon a pariah, copping flack not from the British press but from New Zealanders at home and in the United Kingdom.