The Springboks line up for the national anthem. Photo: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
This is who will sing the South African anthem on Saturday
There is sure to be some extra attention paid to the South African anthem on Saturday, which will be sung by Simon Shibambu.
The Springboks line up for the national anthem. Photo: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
The Springboks claimed a memorable win over Italy last Saturday, but there was a big talking point before the game even kicked off when an extremely laboured performance of Nkosi sikelel’ Afrika sparked a frenzy of reaction to the anthem in South Africa.
The singer, Nicole Magolie, managed to eventually get through the anthem, but the pace and rhythm seemed to be desperately off-key as Twitter went into overdrive about how “slow” the singing was.
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This weekend the Springboks will head into the final Test of the year against England, and The South African has confirmed who will sing the South Africa national anthem ahead of kick-off, with Simon Shibambu having been tasked with singing Nkosi Sikelel‘ iAfrika.
Shibambu, who was born in Johannesburg and is a bass-baritone, completed his diploma and degree in vocal arts at Tshwane University of Technology under Hans van Heerden, before moving to London to study for a masters in vocal performance at the Royal College of Music where he studies with Professor Graeme Broadbent.
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On the eve of the Springboks’ final Test of the year, we have compiled some of the best and worst renditions of the national anthem in this Throwback Thursday compilation below:
In case you missed it, you can watch a video of last Saturday’s anthem below:
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THE SPRINGBOKS ARE FOURTH IN THE LATEST WORLD RUGBY RANKINGS
1. Ireland – 90.63
2. France – 90.01
3. New Zealand – 88.98
4. South Africa – 88.01
5. England – 84.62
6. Scotland – 81.55
7. Argentina – 80.72
8. Australia – 80.64
9. Wales – 79.26
10. Japan – 77.39
11. Samoa – 76.03
12. Italy – 75.95
13. Georgia – 75.19
14. Fiji – 74.84
15. Tonga – 71.21
