In the latest episode of The Offload podcast, former Ireland rugby star Donnacha O’Callaghan didn’t hold back in his disappointment with what he perceives as England’s disrespectful treatment of opposition anthems and their dismissive attitude toward other teams’ cultural traditions, like New Zealand’s haka.
His strong words follow the controversy that brewed ahead of England’s recent loss to the All Blacks at the Allianz Stadium (Twickenham), where former England proper Joe Marler labelled the Haka as ‘ridiculous’ in a tweet.
Firing back, O’Callaghan claimed that the renditions of other nations’ anthems at the Allianz Stadium often lack quality and respect.
The former lock’s frustration was palpable as he criticised the “absolutely disgraceful” performance of opposition anthems at England’s home games.
“Instead of poking fun at something that’s cultural and really important, [they need] to tidy up their own stuff,” he argued. In O’Callaghan’s view, England has routinely played subpar versions of opposition’s national anthems, “I think England’s playing of opposition’s anthems is absolutely disgraceful,” he continued. “They just play it really poorly, and they always have. Don’t turn the speakers up and just do poor renditions of it.”
The Munster legend went on to say that this perceived approach shows a lack of respect, particularly on the grand stage of Twickenham. While it’s typical for home teams to seize every advantage in sports, O’Callaghan made it clear that decency and respect for the visiting team’s anthem should be the minimum standard.
“You want to take the home advantage, but at least show [the visiting team] the decency of playing their anthem properly. I thought it was disgraceful on Saturday.”
He wasn’t alone in his reaction; Bowe agreed, highlighting the underwhelming quality of the anthem renditions, which have been disappointing not only in recent games but also over past seasons.
Continuin his point, O’Callaghan uggested that English stadiums should consider utilising the country’s immense talent pool of musicians to improve the quality of the anthem performances. “They had Rag’N’Bone Man one time at halftime,” O’Callaghan recalled. “Throw it out there, sing Ireland’s Call… Just ask someone decent.” His comment pointed to the irony of having world-class musical talent in England while still falling short in this symbolic moment.
Looking to lighten the mood, Bowe suggested a left-field choice as an anthem singer, “I want James Blunt. There you go, my love is brilliant,” To which O’Callaghan responded, “, James Blunt for Ireland’s call this year, it’d be more in their line whinging about that than mourning about the Haka.”
Returning to the point of the Haka, Bowe said, “Well, do you enjoy the haka? I think the haka is amazing and it is an amazing thing to hear Doug Howlett (former All Black and Munster star) talking about it and actually saying it’s like a welcome.”
Adding a caveat to his admiration of the Māori war dance, Bowe said, “I do think it is unfair that they get to do a Haka, which is a war dance in front of Ireland, for instance, and Ireland not that we’re going to do something back, but it’s kind of they get one up on the opposition.”
Quickly responding, O’Callaghan said, “I didn’t ever find it that way,” before adding, “Certainly, in that moment, they get to remember all their heritage, their culture, where they’re from, and they change it.”\
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