Te Pikikōtuku o Rongomai was the second group to represent Te Arawa rohe at Te Matatini 2015 for Day 1 performances. The crowd was blown away by Te Pikikōtuku o Rongomai's performance today at Pūtaringamotu. Tutors and leaders, Tukiterangi and Renata Curtis lead their group onto the stage with a powerful whakaeke, named Te Pikikōtuku o Rongomai. Their kaupapa is "Ko te reo toku Atua. Ngāti Rongomai – ara ake!"

Te Matatini 2015. Every two years, Te Matatini organises the Te Matatini National Kapa Haka Festival, where top kapa haka teams from New Zealand and Australia compete for the honour of being crowned the best of the best. The festival started in 1972 and is now the world’s largest celebration of Māori traditional performing arts, attracting over 30,000 performers, supporters and visitors. The competition is held over four days with 45 teams split into three pools, Te Ihu, Te Haumi and Te Kei. The three teams with the highest combined marks from each pool will compete in the competition finals. The nine finalists are then judged afresh to determine the new Toa Whakaihuwaka - overall agreggate winner. Kapa haka teams are required to perform six disciplines within their performance piece - whakaeke (a choreographed entry), mōteatea (traditional chant), poi (light ball swung on the end of a rope), waiata-ā-ringa (action song), haka and whakawātea (exit). They must perfect every discipline in a polished 30 minute performance.