Official ruling on “butchered” anthems is made the organizing committee for the Rugby World Cup.

France’s during the playing of the French national anthem prior to the France vs.
New Zealand Rugby World Cup Pool A match.

The national anthems’ highly criticized renditions will not be played during the remaining matches of the Rugby World Cup, officials have announced.

This follows a significant backlash against the versions used for the tournament’s first round in France.

Before the World Cup, French officials made the decision to hire school choirs to perform their country’s anthems in their own renditions. The national anthems were recorded by a variety of choirs made up of young people from various backgrounds.

Backlash.

A live performance by a youth choir pitch side during the opening match between France and New Zealand drew criticism.
Pre-recorded anthems continued to be played through the stadium speakers throughout the rest of the weekend, disappointing the crowd.

X, formerly Twitter, was used by a Japanese rugby fan to post, “PLEASE no more weak pathetic choral anthems! RWC2023 Utterly butchered today, too.”.

Rob Kearney, a former fullback for Ireland, joined the outcry and wrote on Facebook: “For the love of god give everyone back their national anthems – it’s killing that 5min pre game buzz!!”.

Brian O’Driscoll, a former teammate, added to the criticism.

He said on the Off The Ball podcast, “The anthems have been terrible!”.

The Italian national anthem and La Marseillaise are the two major anthems, if we are being completely honest.

There is no room for anyone to get in behind it, and both of them feel like they’ve been butchered.
“.

The remainder of the competition will change.

The traditional rendition of a union’s anthem, which was performed at the World Cup, or a new rendition performed by the same children’s choir, according to reports on Monday.

The new national anthems will play before the next round of World Cup games, France 2023 CEO Julien Collette and Chairman Jacques Rivoal both announced on Wednesday.

They would be “closer to expectations,” according to the chairman, and would be presented to teams for feedback.

They will be performed by the youth choirs as well.

CEO of France 2023 Julien Collette reported that the feedback from the unions they consulted was favorable.

“The children’s voices are preserved in this.
In the stadium, kids will be present.
Together with the supporters and teams, all the unions select the audio version. We think it’s crucial that the kids and their guardians feel welcome and comfortable inside the stadiums.
“.

The anthems were reviewed and approved by the unions before being used, he continued.

“The effect of the chorus, combined with 80,000 fans in the Stade de France on Friday, created a little bit of confusion in the experience, which is why we decided to use a version more in sync with the fans, without having the effect of juxtaposing the voices.
“.

The South African national anthem was played during their own game, but Springboks captain Siya Kolisi was unconcerned.

After the victory over Scotland, he said, “We barely hear anyway as we sing so loud; our voices are terrible, but that’s what we hear.

“When I’m singing the national anthem, all I can think about is my upcoming tasks.
The anthem provided us with the motivation we needed.
“.