What’s going on?! – Brian O’Driscoll slams Rugby World Cup organisers for ‘terrible’ experiment during opening weekend

ONE OF the few things that even the most ardent of rugby haters can’t deny is that it does national anthems better than any other sport.

Or at least, it did up until the start of its biggest tournament over the past week.

For some reason World Cup organisers opted to replace its usual stirring renditions with pre-recorded child choirs singing them like hymns.

The result has all been a bit mass-y and that’s definitely not a setting you want to dredge up in the minds of viewers before an epic sporting battle is about to kick-off.

The bizarre decision has been panned at every turn, including by Ireland’s greatest-ever player Brian O’Driscoll.

He told Off the Ball: “The anthems have been terrible!”

“I was in (the ITV) studio with Sergio Parisse the other day and the two big anthems if we’re honest are La Marseillaise and the Italian anthem.

“Both of them feel like they’ve been butchered. There’s no opportunity for everyone to properly get in behind it.

“There’s choirs and kids singing them. I know that was part of the concept but it’s not working.

“And I think it’s taking a little bit of shine of what are meant to be real atmosphere builders.”

BUM NOTE

Thankfully the organisers have accepted they made an ill-advised change-up and have announced that anthems will revert back to normal for the second round of pool games.

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.

“Today we have proposed new versions, simplified versions, while preserving the children’s voices.

“These different versions will not be disturbing for the supporters, and will offer a mor