the hymns sung in canon abandoned by the organizers

The Federations will have the choice for their anthem until the end of the competition. Since the opening of the Rugby World Cup in France on Friday September 8, the national anthems have attracted criticism: sung like a cannon by children, they were considered inaudible. Tuesday evening, AFP learned from the organizers that the federations will have the choice between a rearranged version of these songs, without canon, and a classic version.

This change of heart was revealed by the newspaper the Team. The sports daily relayed criticisms made by rugby fans against these chants, in particular the comment of former Irish international, Rob Kearney, who posted on the social network X: “for the love of God, give everyone back their national anthems – it kills the excitement of 5 minutes before the match!”

These criticisms pushed the organizing committee, World Rugby but also the Minister of Sports to meet urgently, the daily continues. The issue of these hymns sung by children’s choirs had already attracted attention a few months ago. Despite the work carried out by the children participating in the project for weeks, the organizers had reduced the scale of their singing, citing in particular a problem with the sound system in certain stadiums.