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'It can go for me; I hate it': Ex-England hooker Brian Moore weighs in on Swing Low, Sweet Chariot ban debate

(Photo by David Rogers/Allsport/Getty Images)

Former England hooker and media pundit Brian Moore has weighed in heavily on the heated Swing Low, Sweet Chariot debate, claiming that “it’s crap as a national song” because it has no relevance to the English and should no longer be sung at matches. 

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Written in the mid-19th century by Wallace Willis, who was a black American slave, Swing Low, Sweet Chariot is an anthem for England rugby fans, but the RFU now wants to help raise awareness and educate fans about the song’s origins.

It comes following the growing awareness of the Black Lives Matter movement in UK sports in recent weeks. After the RFU admitted the song was now under review, a lively discussion has ensued about whether it should be banned from being sung at Twickenham. 

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Moore, whose 64-cap England career stretched from 1987 to 1995, outlined his thoughts about Swing Low, Sweet Chariot on Twitter, addressing what he believes to be the apocryphal story about the song.

It is commonly believed that that the use of the song at Twickenham relates to Chris Oti, a black ex-England player who scored a Five Nations try hat-trick in 1988, or Martin Offiah’s appearance at the Middlesex Sevens in 1987, as a play on his nickname ‘Chariots Offiah’.  

Moore concluded that his preference would be for the RFU to ban the song. “It can go for me; I hate it,” he said.

Offiah also commented on the debate when speaking to BBC 5 Live, saying: “I champion the RFU reviewing it, I wouldn’t support the banning of such a song. When you do try to ban things like that it just makes the song more divisive.

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“If this review leads to the RFU putting a positive spin on this song, engaging with ethnic communities, looking at the rooms where decisions are made in the RFU and addressing those issues, that’s what we actually want.”

The debate went right to the top politically in England on Friday with Prime Minister Boris Johnson stating people should not be prohibited from singing Swing Low, Sweet Chariot at England rugby matches.

He said: “I certainly don’t think there should be any prohibition on singing that song.” He explained that people from ethnic minority backgrounds should not face “unfairness” in any area of life, but that there should be less focus on “the symbols of discrimination”.

 

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Hellhound 53 minutes ago
South Africa player ratings | 2024 Autumn Nations Series

There is this thing going around against Siya Kolisi where they don't want him to be known as the best national captain ever, so they strike him down in ratings permanently whenever they can. They want McCaw and reckons he is the best captain ever. I disagree.


Just like they refuse to see SA as the best team and some have even said that should the Boks win a third WC in a row, they will still not be the best team ever. Even if they win every game between now and the WC. That is some serious hate coming SA's way.


Everyone forget how the McCaw AB's intimidated refs, was always on the wrong side, played on the ground etc. Things they would never have gotten away with today. They may have a better win ratio, but SA build depth, not caring about rank inbetween WC's until this year.


They weren't as bad inbetween as people claim, because non e of their losses was big ones and they almost never faced the strongest Bok team outside of the WC, allowing countries like France and Ireland to rise to the top unopposed.


Rassie is still at it, building more depth, getting more young stars into the fold. By the time he leaves (I hope never) he will leave a very strong Bok side for the next 15- 20 years. Not everyone will play for 20 years, but each year Rassie acknowledge the young stars and get them involved and ready for international rugby.


Not everyone will make it to the WC, but those 51/52 players will compete for those spots for the WC. They will deliver their best. The future of the Boks is in very safe hands. The only thing that bothers me is Rassie's health. If he can overcome it, rugby looks dark for the rest of the rugby world. He is already the greatest coach in WR history. By the time he retires, he will be the biggest legend any sport has ever seen

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J
JW 1 hour ago
'They smelt it': Scott Robertson says Italy sensed All Blacks' vulnerability

No where to be seen OB!


The crosses for me for the year where (from memory);


This was a really hard one to nail down as the first sign of a problem, now that I've asked myself to think about it. I'd say it all started with his decision to not back form and fit players after all the injuries, and/or him picking players for the future, rather ones that could play right now.


First he doesn't replace Perofeta straight away (goes on for months in the team) after injury against England, second he falls back to Beauden Barrett to cover at fullback against Fiji, then he drops Narawa the obvious choice to have started, then he brings in Jordan too soon. That Barret selection (and to a lesser extent Bell's) set the tone for the year.


Then he didn't get the side up for Argentina. They were blown away and didn't look like they expected a fight and were well beaten despite the scoreline in my opinion. Worst performance of the year in the forth game and..


Basically the same problems were persistent, or even exaggerated, after that with the players he did select not given much of an opportunity, with this year having the most number of unused subs I can remember since the amateur days.


What I think I started to realise early on was that he didn't back himself and his team. I think he prepared the players well, don't get me wrong, but I'll credit him with making a conscious choice in tempering his ambition and instead choosing cohesion and to respect (the idea of it being important in himself and his players) experience first and foremost (after two tight games and that 4th game loss). I think he chose wrong in deciding not to be, and back, himself. Hard criticism.


And it played out by preferring Beauden to Dmac on the EOYT (though that may have been a planned move).


I hope I'm right, because going through all the little things of the season and coming up with these bullets, I've got to wonder when I say his last fault is one we have seen at the Crusaders, playing his best players into the ground. What I'm really scared of now is that not wanting a bit of freshness in this last game could be linked with all these other crosses that I want to put down to simple confidence issues. But are they really a sign that he just lacks vision?


Now, that's not to say I haven't seen a lot of positives as well, I just think that for the ABs to go where they want to go he has to fix these crosses. Just have difficult that will be is the question.

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