Rugby World Cup

Rugby World Cup organisers bow to pressure and re-record ‘disturbing’ team anthems

Choir recordings without music have bemused supporters

The Irish team during the anthems against Romania in Bordeaux. Photograph: Jan Kruger/Getty

Luke McLaughlin
Wed Sep 13 2023 - 15:31

Rugby World Cup organisers have bowed to pressure and on Wednesday morning announced plans to re-record the prematch team anthems after they faced widespread criticism across the tournament’s opening weekend. Officials also said the new versions would be subject to approval from the competing nations.

A project involving 7,000 schoolchildren from diverse backgrounds, La Mêlée des Chœurs, has seen choirs singing each country’s anthem without accompanying music, but the response from fans was overwhelmingly negative.

Speaking at a tournament media briefing on Wednesday, the France 2023 chairman, Jacques Rivoal, said: “The feedback we got after eight games were that these anthems were disturbing, or surprising to our fans.

“We are here to prioritise the fan experience, and we were quite concerned by this negative feedback ... It is quite a sensitive question because for all the teams it’s a very important point.

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“Today we have proposed new versions, simplified versions, while preserving the children’s voices, and these different versions will not ... be disturbing for the supporters, and will offer a more affirmative musical performance.”

The tournament director, Michel Poussau, said the competing nations would be consulted over the new versions. “We understand it didn’t work, or it hasn’t worked as well as we hoped,” he admitted. “We can have anthems which will be closer to expectations, but will still have that touch from these kids, who I want to say have been amazing, have been working very hard, and who deserve to be part of this tournament.”

While organisers have acknowledged and acted on criticism of the anthems, they refused to comment on widespread confusion regarding sanctions handed out by referees and officials for head contact.

England’s Tom Curry is banned for two matches after his red card for a high tackle in the opening win against Argentina, while a similar incident involving the Chile captain, Martín Sigren, resulted in a yellow card. The South Africa centre, Jesse Kriel, did not attract the attention of the TMO or the citing commissioner for an upright tackle in the Springboks victory over Scotland.

“No surprise, refereeing is suddenly one of the hardest jobs in the sport,” said Poussau. “Our responsibility, collectively, is obviously to try and make the referee’s life as easy as possible, by always supporting them, which is what we do at World Rugby. “We know we have the best of the best in that refereeing team, and I personally don’t think I should comment on decisions which are very much related to the pitch, and our team of referees.” – Guardian

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