Johannesburg – The French Rugby Union (FFR) has apologised to its South African counterpart for the way the national anthem was performed in France at the weekend, the SA Rugby Union said yesterday.

This was after South African singer Ras Dumisani made a hash of the national anthem before the Springboks’ rugby Test against France in Toulouse on Friday.

Dumisani, a South African who now lives in France, sang the anthem out of tune and changed some of the words, causing an outcry among South Africans. His name was forwarded to the FFR by the South African embassy in France, after the FFR asked its advice on a performer to sing the anthem.

Saru president Oregan Hoskins said he had received a letter from Pierre Camou, president of the FFR, in which he offered sincere apologies to Saru. “(He) shares Saru’s shock at what he also describes as a ‘debacle’, of which his union was also a victim,” said Hoskins.

He said Camou told him Dumisani rehearsed before the event and that all had gone smoothly. “The French union have offered their unreserved apologies and I have accepted them on behalf of Saru.”

“I am still at a loss to understand how this artist was allowed to be in a position to deliver such an appalling rendition of our cherished anthem.”

But Hoskins said he accepted that there was no deliberate intent by the FFR to sabotage the anthem.

“As much as the performance still rankles, we regard the matter as now closed,” he said. – Sapa