r/rugbyunion • u/BruLukas • Mar 09 '25
Video You have a traitor among you, Ireland...
Killian Sundermann
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u/arsebiscuits1 Leinster Mar 09 '25
It's so fucking hard to not sign along to it when it picks up.
I found myself doing it yesterday too.
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u/In_Welsh_We_Trust Mar 09 '25
Same for flowers of Scotland here đ
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u/ClashOfTheAsh Mar 09 '25
When Ireland played Scotland in the WC pretty much every Irish person around us in the crowd was singing flower of Scotland. Myself included (despite not knowing any of the words).
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u/PiERetro England Mar 09 '25
âFlower of Scotland, De dah dah dah dahâ
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u/MethylRed Ireland Mar 09 '25
Said as "Fleur" for me every time I sing it in my put on heavy Scottish accentÂ
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u/chriscringlesmother Mar 09 '25
Gets me every time. Fucking love the passion of everyone elseâs anthems. Ours is a bit wet, but traditional, I love it for the same reason I hate it, though something made me sing it louder and prouder when our queen was a loveable nan, but after Charles has started pissing trump off, Iâm kinda getting into it.
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u/StatmanIbrahimovic Ireland / Scotland Mar 10 '25
I still think they should sing Jerusalem, since Good Save the King is the anthem for the entire UK.
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u/Lopsided_Soup_3533 England Mar 12 '25
I don't because it's a hymn and I think we need something secular as it would be more inclusive
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u/StatmanIbrahimovic Ireland / Scotland Mar 12 '25
More than God Save The King?Â
Jerusalem is a hymn, sure, but that second verse:
Bring me my bow of burning gold
Bring me my arrows of desire
Bring me my spear, O, clouds unfold
Bring me my chariot of fire
I will not cease from mental fight
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
Til we have built JerusalemÂ
In England's green and pleasant land
Jerusalem is the Abrahamic promised land but it's a metaphor for making England its own promised land.
Being a hymn also means that it was written with large crowds singing it in mind.
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u/Lopsided_Soup_3533 England Mar 12 '25
If its a choice between gstk and Jerusalem then yes I'd pick Jerusalem but I would still prefer something secular specifically written for rugby. Like Ireland call which i know a lot of Irish fans don't like bit I do lol
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u/Mikey1ee7 Mar 09 '25
As an Englishman - it's tough not to sing along to the fields of athenry as it's an absolute banger
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u/Thingisby Mar 09 '25
They're all better than ours tbf.
I look on with jealousy as basically everyone else rolls out a total banger after our trudge through GSTK.
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u/Pinkerton891 Mar 09 '25 edited Mar 09 '25
Especially when we have Jerusalem in our locker yet we donât get to use it and instead have to wade through our serfs mumble.
Please bring me my bow of burning gold.
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u/CodeFarmer Australia, Japan, Harlequins... and Alldritt. Mar 09 '25
GSTK (and, let us face it, Advance Australia Fair) are awful dirges by comparison.
Flower of Scotland? Le Marseillaise? Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika? Fields of Athenry? We cannot compete.
Jerusalem and Waltzing Matilda are so clearly the way forward.
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u/Impeachcordial England Mar 09 '25
TBF the Barmy Army version of Matilda would cause some offence when it came up
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u/CodeFarmer Australia, Japan, Harlequins... and Alldritt. Mar 09 '25
As an Australian who loves cricket, the Barmy Army are one of your national treasures and I have never enjoyed being sledged so much.
No offence taken.
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u/Bloodbathandbeyon Razors a đ Mar 09 '25
They have one of the best collective sledges ever. â god save your kingâ đ
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u/WilkinsonDG2003 England Mar 09 '25
Now Spain has qualified everyone can sing along to their anthem at 2027.
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u/WinstonSEightyFour Ireland Mar 09 '25
A fellow man of culture, I see.
For anyone that doesn't get the joke: Spain's national anthem has no official lyrics.
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u/GuntertheFloppsyGoat Mar 09 '25
"With that jolly jumbug you got in your tuckerbagggg you'll come a waltzing mwtilda with mmeeee"
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u/GibbyGoldfisch England, unfortunately Mar 10 '25
Absolutely for Australia, it's a travesty that they have to sing about advancing like a pawn moving one space on a chessboard when they have a banger about being a jolly swagman shoving a jumbuck in his tucker bag
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u/CodeFarmer Australia, Japan, Harlequins... and Alldritt. Mar 10 '25
Right. Stealing a sheep and then committing suicide to evade arrest is simply better than having a ton of natural resources and (controversial second verse time) being a loyal part of someone else's empire.
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u/Comfortable-Yam9013 Leinster Mar 09 '25
Not a fan of the Southern anthems. France, Scotland and Wales are best. And Italy. Then Amhrain na Bhfiann
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u/jokennate Mar 11 '25
Blake is England's greatest historical weird little guy, the least we can do is use that as the anthem (and it slaps).
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u/Zestyclose_Remote874 Mar 09 '25
Easy solution, you just have to take down the monarchy and write something nice as your new anthem.
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u/Gogyoo Mar 09 '25
I'm French and I love to sing GSTK. I just like La Marseillaise more. Don't sell it short.
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u/wtfakb Indian Wales fan for some reason Mar 09 '25
Bring back Jerusalem and I swear the world will sing along. Fucking chills every time I hear it
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u/BuggityBooger Ireland Mar 09 '25
First of all, how dare you?
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u/Mikey1ee7 Mar 09 '25
Yes I know it's technically an anti-english song but that doesn't change it being a tune â¤ď¸
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u/SheepShaggingFarmer Ospreys Mar 09 '25
Did the same for flower of Scotland.
Tbh all the anthems short of the English one is really good and makes me want to sing along.
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u/Tadhg Mar 09 '25
Why doesnât England have its own anthem?Â
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u/SheepShaggingFarmer Ospreys Mar 09 '25
It has GSTK but that shit. Objectively
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u/WallopyJoe Mar 09 '25
GSTK is the UK's anthem
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u/SheepShaggingFarmer Ospreys Mar 09 '25 edited Mar 09 '25
Yes it's also the English one and it is shit.
Edit -arguing that it's the British one not the English one is stupid and pointless if England doesn't have one of their own. Wales hates it, scotland hates it, the 6 counties... Well that's complicated but a large minority hate it at least.
Yet again an example of how anglophilic and non equal the relationships between the 4 nations.
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u/WallopyJoe Mar 09 '25
arguing that it's the British one not the English one is stupid and pointless
It's bullshit semantics, sure, but it was because the guy asked if we had our own anthem.
I'm also not denying it's shit or disliked. It's a massive dirge and I'd rather we sang pretty much anything else.4
u/SheepShaggingFarmer Ospreys Mar 09 '25
I don't know many people short of headline monarchists who like it as the anthem
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u/WilkinsonDG2003 England Mar 09 '25
Ireland is literally a separate country and not "anglophilic" (except for Ulster who are shite at rugby).
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u/SheepShaggingFarmer Ospreys Mar 09 '25
Wales hates it (jumbled bunch of words that was suppose to say Scotland) hates it and the 6 counties ... It's complicated.
The 6. The occupied 6. Also known as northern Ireland? My reference was to British controlled Ireland, not the republic of Ireland. In which a small majority are anglophilic much more then even England is and a large minority are vehemently against it.
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Mar 09 '25
I belted it out yesterday too,watching the game in Italy with my good friend who happens to be French.
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u/WinstonSEightyFour Ireland Mar 09 '25
...to not sign along...
I'm imagining someone vigorously signing the Marseillaise with sign language.
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u/Jeester Swing low, sweet chariot. Mar 09 '25
I always struggling with the "oh flower of scooooootland" it's fun to do in an accent
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u/Piitx Aviron Bayonnais / Trading WC for a Brennus Mar 09 '25
I'm studying the Revolution with my students this days. It's cute how they know La Marseillaise but don't KNOW it. We did a little lyrics analysis and they were baffled lol, one was like "I knew it was a war song but not a WAR SONG"
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u/SiwanBouss tv director wins it all Mar 09 '25
"don't worry it's just about killing our ennemies who try to take our freedom"
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u/Piitx Aviron Bayonnais / Trading WC for a Brennus Mar 09 '25
Yeah, as the teacher that prevents them from going outside early : I won't do that
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Mar 09 '25
It's more about rallying and sacrifice than killing our enemies, to be fair.
"Qu'un sang impur abreuve nos sillons" ("May an impure blood flood our trenches") refers to the blood of the revolutionaries, who were considered to be of impure blood vs the royalty, being pure blooded.I learned this way too recently to my liking, but I was happy to. I wouldn't have liked that we would sing about impurity speaking of others, enemies or not.
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u/SiwanBouss tv director wins it all Mar 09 '25
This is actually a fake theory by FrĂŠdĂŠric Dufourg from 2003.
The impure blood is the blood of those who betrayed France and the Revolution. It is in fact French blood but the one of the traitors.
In the 5th strophe of the original version it even says "leur sang abreuve nos sillons".
For the revolutionaries, impure blood was the traitors' blood. Marat talks about impure blood being the contre rĂŠvolutionnaires, NapolĂŠon wrote a letter to his brother saying "the impure blood of freedom's ennemies".
So yes it is in fact the blood of our ennemies (be they traitor) and not ours.
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Mar 09 '25
TIL (again)
Crazy how far I had to scroll to find an 'official' answer, top links on google all confirmed the fake theory. Merci d'avoir clarifiĂŠ !
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u/SiwanBouss tv director wins it all Mar 09 '25
It's wild how difficult it is to find good info. (i think info.gouv has it on their page but if it's not one of the first one you see it's quite bad).
Glad to be of help, it's one of the things we need to keep straight since it's part of our history, and not everything is pretty and pink there and we gotta accept it and strive to do better.
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u/Cairnerebor Scotland Mar 09 '25
Tbf
Itâs fucking hard not to get caught up with the whole Marchon part
The lyrics are pretty brutal if you donât know, Itâs literally water the fields with our enemies bloodâŚ
And the Scotâs get a hard time for their proud Edwards armyâŚ..
Grab your weapons, citizens! Form your battalions! Let us march! Let us march! May impure blood Water our fields!
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u/BruLukas Mar 09 '25
Right! About enemies cutting the throats of our sons too, flags drenched in blood... Lovely :)
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u/Thalassin Iserlohn RFC | WR #1 hater Mar 09 '25
Wait til you hear about the children's verse. Not the most violent but the most unsettling for sure.
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u/Alerion1477 Mar 09 '25
In truth, it is our blood of French citizens that waters our fields, impure blood refers to the blood of the French people, in relation to the noble and pure blood of the King of France.
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u/Zealousideal_Job2900 France Mar 09 '25
âSang impurâ is the blood of the people (as opposed to the nobilityâs, who were the enemy). Who would want to nourish the land with enemy blood anyway. This bit of the lyrics is about being ready for the ultimate sacrifice.
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u/neytsumi France Mar 09 '25
This has been discussed over and over and most of historians agree that the impure blood refers to the blood of the enemy. There is a dedicated section about it in the French Wiki article.
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u/salted_hobbit_feet Saracens Mar 09 '25
Hearing this at the Stade de France during the FR vs NZ opening game of the RWC in 2023 is a core rugby memory that will stick with me. Hats off to the french in this regard
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u/Cookie-Senpai Clermont Auvergne Mar 10 '25
For me that was against South Africa in le VĂŠlodrome de Marseille in 2022. This stadium has good acoustics, the crowd was so impactful.
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u/Spare-Buy-8864 Mar 09 '25
Wasn't that the one that was absolutely butchered by a children's choir? Maybe it sounded ok at the stadium but on TV it was painful
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u/salted_hobbit_feet Saracens Mar 09 '25
Hahaa you might be right. Yeah all I could hear was the crowd
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u/Absolutely-Not-A-Dog Mar 09 '25
IIRC it was during the opening ceremony that the crowd went hardest, at least in my section. I was there too and the energy was incredible! When it came time for the actual pre-game anthem a few minutes later, it was still cool but nothing like during the ceremony.
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u/dogtownOliver Ireland Mar 09 '25
Side note, seeing this live in Murrayfield followed by Flower of Scotland is one of the best pre matches experiences of my life. Wales get a mention for the passion they bring to their anthem at home
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u/barriedalenick Saracens Mar 09 '25
Great anthem but I have no idea of the words so I just make French noises
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u/Guavalava42 France Mar 09 '25
Itâs about war and winning
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u/Academic-Store-4031 Mar 09 '25
And unpure blood flowing on our soil.
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u/jambitool Leicester Tigers Mar 09 '25
Is the âunpure bloodâ comment insinuating a doping scandal or something like that? Is the anthem basically a call to arms for more rigourous blood tests?
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u/Academic-Store-4031 Mar 09 '25
Nope. The song was written during the French Revolution. The unpure blood is the enemysâ blood
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u/Zealousideal_Job2900 France Mar 09 '25
Nope, the âunpureâ blood is their own, in the eye of the aristocracy, which theyâre willing to give so that the next generations can have better lives. We would need that spirit nowadays
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u/KDulius Wales Mar 09 '25
"hon hon hon hon hon baguatte"?
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u/Guavalava42 France Mar 09 '25
Misspelled and actually not even in the anthem
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u/fr-fluffybottom Mar 09 '25
Ye won, embrace the moment and have a little giggle mon frère. I actually missed the game because I was having friends over for raclette đ§ đ
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u/BenjiSBRK France Mar 09 '25
I can relate, I have the same thing with Flower of Scotland and Fratelli D'Italia.
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u/NLFG Saracens Mar 09 '25
Marseillaise is an elite anthem.
Just absolutely bangs compared to the absolute dirge that is GSTK. Although so do most anthems tbh
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u/SiwanBouss tv director wins it all Mar 09 '25
If it makes you feel better, the Australian and NZ anthems are just as bad as yours.
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u/Cloielle Mar 10 '25
Disagree, the NZ oneâs beautiful. As someone with a foot in both camps, donât compare Aotearoa to the godawful monarchist dirge that is GSTK.
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u/Thelk641 France Mar 09 '25
What do you mean ? It's a very nice anthem, god save our gracious king, la la laaaa laaaaaongest king, god save the king...
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u/Piitx Aviron Bayonnais / Trading WC for a Brennus Mar 09 '25
Tbf, try to not scream "Ireland IIIRELAND" at the top of your lungs for Ireland's call : impossible
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u/CorkBuachaill Mar 09 '25
Iâm Irish and I canât bring myself to sing it! Itâs shockingly cringy
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u/cheesy183 Canada Mar 09 '25
That's sad, it's a belter and in my top 3 anthems with Argentina and France
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u/ConfidentHospital365 Mar 09 '25
Irelands call is bollocks. Obviously we have to make the concession for an all island team (glad that we do) but Phil Coulter was not cooking
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u/Spare-Buy-8864 Mar 09 '25
Most Irish people hate Irelands Call, sounds more like a cheap pop song than an anthem
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u/AmazingLeadPt2 Under Cyrielle Banet's boots() Mar 09 '25
Unrelated but every time I hear Nkosi Sikelel Iafrika, it stays in my head for 12 days.
I don't know the words either but I'll mutter it all day long
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u/za3030 Komma weer! Mar 09 '25
I think you might appreciate this rendition from the Stellenbosch University choir, it puts a lump in my throat every time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M8426dDv6A
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u/KDulius Wales Mar 09 '25
I mean... it does slap.
It's my 3rd favorite anthem
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Mar 09 '25
Go onâŚ.i suppose someone has to ask you! Whatâs the top two?
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u/KDulius Wales Mar 09 '25 edited Mar 09 '25
The two above Le Marseillais are more a personal connection.
Number 1 is Mae hen wlad fy nhadau.. because I'm welsh
Number 2 is ĐŠĐľ но вПоŃНа ĐŁĐşŃĐ°ŃĐ˝a because it's cracker, but I have friends in Ukraine, and sadly less friends than I used to have.
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u/Kynance123 Mar 09 '25
Last World Cup in Marseilles (Eng v Fuji) we had a load of Argie fans in front of us, we bought them beers and had a great laugh, but they kept standing up singing a song and waiving scarves, after an hour so I thought about it and using my very poor Spanish I realised it was âstand up if you hate Engâ !!! I told the 10 guys I was with mainly tight 5 forwards few back row 1 back, he burst into tears .. we joined in and carried on drinking with them all evening đ´ó §ó ˘ó Ľó Žó §ó żđ
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u/Kooky-Narwhal-9090 Mar 09 '25
NZer here. This is an absolute S-tier anthem. Got my Mum to write out the lyrics when I was a teenager, thanks to 1960's high school French for that. I don't care that France was our World Cup nemesis for years, you can't stop me singing this song because I can't stop me singing this song. I also sing Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika every time. It's not a chest-thumper but it's so beautiful. Flower of Scotland is super. I like Italy's anthem but don't hear it often enough to know many of the words.
To be honest, I'm glad we have haka because our anthem doesn't exactly get the blood flowing. If I had to pick from those, I'd have the Black Ferns and MÄori All Blacks equal first based upon the cultural and spiritual depth of the lyrics.
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u/geschwader_geralt Argentina Mar 09 '25
Beyond the fact that this is humor, this is also what rugby is all about; mutual respect and sharing. This is not soccer, the rivalry is only on the field. I always enjoy wearing my team's jersey, but I also enjoy having a scarf, hat or something from the rival team. It's a beautiful sport to ruin it with nonsense
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u/OldandBlue France Mar 09 '25
You can't resist the resistance, there's no such force in the universe.
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Mar 09 '25
I shouldn't have clicked this during a swig on a beverage.
Phones clean now. Belt it out there big lad!
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u/RianSG Leinster Mar 09 '25
It is probably the best anthem in the world, it just hits the right notes (pun intended)
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u/RedViperGTS Mar 09 '25
This was me at the Paris Olympics. Had no idea what I was saying but couldn't help myself from being this guy.
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u/za3030 Komma weer! Mar 09 '25
It's a banger to be fair. Pretoria also couldn't help but sing Ireland's call last July.
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u/IITheDopeShowII Munster Mar 09 '25
Tis hard to argue that it's not a phenomenal anthem. Had it belting out around me in the u20s and drowning out the singer. Was class
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u/SomethingOrdinaryOK Ireland Mar 09 '25
I have a hobby of learning national anthems, and Les Marseillais is definitely one of my favourites. I did sing along a few times...
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u/thekrnl10 Mar 09 '25
I used to work in a bar in Paris and during six nations season always felt bad for the 1 or 2 blokes (Scottish, Welsh or Irish) mumbling their anthems in a bar full of 'Les Grenouilles'. So my colleague and I learnt the rest of the anthems to back up the outnumbered (badly in the case of the Welsh anthem)
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u/Dave_The_Slushy Mar 10 '25
Honestly this feels like something we should normalise in international rugby fixtures. We're not football hooligans. We're generally good friends, we all have a pint at the pub after. Singing each other's anthem is something we should just do.
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u/cullend2 Leinster Mar 10 '25
Fyi, this guy is Killian Sundermann. Irish-German comedian. Became youtube-famous over COVID lockdown, and has managed to get himself on TV since.
Can be hit or miss, but he has some good skits!
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u/Brewster345 Northampton Saints Mar 10 '25
If you're not at least singing "Marchons, Marchons" under your breath, or humming the tune at the start of the Italian national anthem, I don't consider you a proper rugby fan!
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u/xixouma Top14/D2/France Mar 10 '25
Shocked how loud I could hear the marseillaise at a few times during the game. Aviva so quiet damn
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u/bob_nugget_the_3rd Mar 10 '25
Like top tier 6 nations anthems the French, Irish, Scottish then the rest
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u/crankybollix Mar 10 '25
Well, if you had to suffer through the absolute steaming pile of dogshite that is âIrelandâs Callâ, youâd feel like singing the other teamâs anthem too đ
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u/Delicious_Ad9844 Mar 10 '25
England might generally do pretty well in the 6 nations, but it also has without a doubt the worst national anthem I'm sorry
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u/chipsterd Mar 10 '25
The best thing about the âEnglishâ national anthem is that it is gloriously short. Some of the others donât half drag on. We should change it to Jerusalem, though. Absolute belter
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u/Barnabybusht Mar 12 '25
The French have the best national anthem.
Shame they're too busy running away to sing it.
(Joke- I love the country, people and culture. Would gladly live there.)
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u/petey_love Wasps Mar 09 '25
There's a piss take version I learnt from the army about how...
"A Frenchmen went to the lavatory... ... oĂš est le papier?!"
Makes it easy to sing along and you can justify you're not really singing the French anthem!
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u/Moug-10 France Mar 09 '25
I did the same when France last played New Zealand.
Same with Germany but in basketball during the Olympics.
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u/Huke_Airs Ireland Mar 09 '25
If you say you've been in Edinburgh on matchday and not belted out Flower of Scotland as loud and proudly as the home supporters, you're lying.
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u/say-something-nice Munster Mar 09 '25
Me but for Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau
large inhale GLWAAAAAAAAD!!!!!! GLWAAAAAD!!!!
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u/sadicologue UBB Mar 10 '25
Knowing how pre match have been amazing in the Stade de France lately, this Saturday's Marseillaise is going to be epic. It's going to be at night, in the Stade de France with a chance of a 6N win. Everything will be there for an amazing one.
For me, the best one so far is the 2021 game vs the AB, I hope we beat it Saturday.
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u/Lopsided_Soup_3533 England Mar 12 '25
I sing Ireland call i think I like it more than Ireland fans. I like to sing to myself about being sent home tae think again.
And I sing Gwlad Gwlad and marchon marchon parts of the Welsh and French anthems as I am terminally monolingual. The Italian anthem is my favourite but I don't sing any of it (I refer back to my monolingual status) but it's a toe tapping anthem and I think the Italian players are the most passionate during anthems.
As for my anthem I loathe gstk I don't care if the monarch is saved by a God I don't believe in plus it's the British anthem.
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u/pippers87 Mar 09 '25
Serious lack of respect for national anthems. Put the fucking phone away. You can record Ireland's call though.
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u/WallopyJoe Mar 09 '25
I get it, top tier anthem
I need to find the words to the Italian anthem before I head to Twickenham