Fury over 'disgraceful' New Zealand national anthem
A singer who butchered the New Zealand national anthem before a rugby league Test match has been slammed over what has been described as “the worst rendition” of the famous song.
New Zealand Rugby League CEO Greg Peters was particularly scathing of the performance from Crystal Collins, labelling her effort “disgraceful” before the match against England.
Collins also struggled through England’s God Save the Queen but the true disaster came during the Kiwis’ anthem, with Peters insisting on radio that he was “very disappointed” with the singer’s haphazard rendition.
“The anthem was disgraceful, and we are very disappointed by that,” he said.
“These things happen from time to time, and it’s not the first time that I’ve seen it happen in sport.
“The Kiwi national anthem is something we’re proud of, and we will be taking steps to speak to the promoters about that in the debrief.”
New Zealand’s players could only watch on in horror as the embarrassing scenes unfolded, with fans venting their fury over the debacle on social media and many questioning whether she actually knew the words.
If the match isn't better than the performance of the New Zealand anthem, test rugby league is stuffed. What an embarrassment.
— Andrew Voss (@AndrewVossy) June 23, 2018
Wowwwwwww who’s singing that New Zealand national anthem😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩 sounds like a cat being strangled
— Danny Craven (@dannycraven21) June 23, 2018
Oh god new Zealand don't look impressed with this national anthem. Ears bleeding 😅🙈
— Jess Foxley (@jessfoxley) June 23, 2018
I am sure the singer that has just tried to sing the New Zealand national anthem didn’t knew the words !
Absolutely dreadful!!— Matthew hoggard (@Hoggy602) June 23, 2018
Sky TV commentator Glen Larmer was just as scathing – branding it “the worst rendition of the New Zealand national anthem that I’ve ever heard at a sporting event”.
Things didn’t get much better for New Zealand once the match kicked off, with the Kiwis going down 36-18 to England.