Choir must set rivalries aside for rugby date (From Swindon Advertiser)

Choir must set rivalries aside for rugby date

4:10pm Wednesday 8th February 2012 in Local By Scott D'Arcy

NATIONAL pride will have to be put on hold briefly as singers from both sides of the Anglo-Welsh border have been chosen to lead the pre-match chorus at the home of English rugby.

The Wessex Male Choir has been selected to entertain the crowds at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday, February 25 as part of the pre-match entertainment at the Six Nations rugby match between England and Wales.

The 60-strong Swindon-based choir, which includes 16 Welshmen, will lead the sold-out crowd in rugby favourites including Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, Jerusalem and World In Union as the players head out onto the pitch.

They will also lead the two national anthems before kick-off at 4pm, even singing the Welsh national anthem in the native tongue.

Musical director and Welshman Rob Elliott said the English contingent in the choir had enjoyed learning Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, or Land Of My Fathers, ahead of the big day.

“This is set to be our biggest gig to date,” said the 45-year-old, of Wootton Bassett.

“It is a privilege to be invited to sing at this big match and, with a rousing performance from the guys, we look forward to really warming up the crowd before kick-off.

“Of the 60 people in the choir there are about 16 from Wales, including myself, and at least 50 follow rugby so there is a bit of rivalry, albeit friendly.

“When we were asked to do it they wanted a quarter-hour of English rugby anthems, but we found that filled about six minutes, whereas the Welsh ones could go on for hours.

“We are an entertaining choir and will be singing our repertoire – no doubt we’ll be singing in the bar afterwards too.

“We’re going to do the Welsh anthem in Welsh and it’s been good to see the English guys try and learn it. They’ve been enjoying it because everyone who sings it knows it’s the best anthem.”

As well as the 85,000 spectators in the stadium, the performance will also be watched by many more television viewers as the event is being shown live, making it by far the largest audience the choir has ever sung to.

Rob, who started the choir 10 years ago, said: “We did the Help for Heroes match in December which was a great atmosphere but this will be a sell-out 85,000 crowd, which is huge.

“For the guys who have not done that before it can be daunting. You can only imagine it until you’re doing it and then it’s like ‘wow!’.

“Twickenham is enormous and the atmosphere is fantastic. I think it will be the biggest game of the tournament and whoever wins could go on to win overall.

“We are all looking forward to it. This puts the choir and the town on the map.”