Martin Offiah has had his say on possible Swing Low, Sweet Chariot RFU ban
Martin Offiah, who was the reason for the first signing of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot at Twickenham, has revealed he would not support the banning of the song despite its links to slavery, the former rugby league great instead claiming he was initially proud to be associated with it.
Before moving to league, Offiah was playing in the 1987 Middlesex Sevens at England Rugby HQ when fans started hailing his try-scoring ability with what is believed to be the first use of Swing Low at Twickenham.
Written in the mid-19th century by Wallace Willis, who was a black American slave, Swing Low, Sweet Chariot was said to be under review at the RFU after a spokesperson admitted on Thursday that the England rugby organisation needed to grow awareness about the song’s origins.
“We need to do more to achieve diversity and we are determined to accelerate change and grow awareness. The Swing Low, Sweet Chariot song has long been part of the culture of rugby and is sung by many who have no awareness of its origins or its sensitivities. We are reviewing its historical context and our role in educating fans to make informed decisions.”
Offiah entered the heated debate on Friday, telling BBC Radio’s 5 Live Breakfast: “It is a very emotive song and stirs up feelings. That is probably something to do with its history and that history is probably not that well known by a lot of people in the UK.
"I wouldn't support banning the song. That makes the song more divisive.''
The Rugby Football Union is reviewing England fans use of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.@martinoffiah told #5LiveBreakfast that it's more about educating the fans.
Read more at https://t.co/qu7QgHTd6S pic.twitter.com/jNVNibUTQ3
— BBC Radio 5 Live (@bbc5live) June 19, 2020
“I know the RFU are planning to review this song and I champion reviewing it, but I wouldn’t support the banning of such a song. When you do try to ban things like that it makes the song more divisive. We are seeing it being sung by football fans. Stoke City – when a manager referred to them as rugby players. We have to be careful here. Education, information needs to be disseminated.
“I had a conversation with Brian Moore (ex-England hooker) a few years ago and not many people singing that song at Twickenham know about its history.
“I didn’t know the history of the song and I was playing in the Middlesex Sevens in 1987. I was only informed this year by the RFU that it was the first time it was ever sung at Twickenham. The curator of the museum at Twickenham found this footage on the BBC in the archives.
“I was proud to be associated with the song but I do feel it is a time to educate England fans about the song. You would then be aware of what you are singing.
“The song is not the issue here. It is about diversity and inclusion. If the review leads to the RFU putting a positive spin on this song, engaging with the communities, looking at the rooms where decisions are made in the RFU and addressing it, that is what it is leading to.”
In contrast to Offiah, Moore, who played 64 times for England between 1987 and 1995, says he never understood why Swing Low became so popular among spectators. “It can go for me; I hate it,” he wrote on Twitter. “This was sung in rugby clubs when I was still a colt and well before Martin Offiah and Chris Oti played senior rugby.
“It was sung because of the rude gestures that went with it and without any thought of its origins. The world has moved on and, rightly, things that were normal then should not necessarily be normal now.
“Had today’s context be known then it might not have been sung. Amongst other reasons for the RFU encouraging people not to sing it, one of the main ones is that most people only know two verses and it’s crap as a national song because it has no relevance to England. It should be celebrated in its rightful context.”
Another example that the times they are a-changin https://t.co/RQxavIhVL4
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 18, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
27 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
27 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments