Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus has joined thousands of South Africans – much to the annoyance of Irish rugby players – in singing a track dedicated to him.
Titled Rassie, the song is sampled from The Cranberries 1994 hit Zombie. The video clip comes amid South Africa beating Ireland to the top of World Rugby rankings.
The Boks boss helped SA win back-to-back World Cup titles in 2019 and 2023. However, he was recently snubbed by World Rugby’s Coach of the Year category.
RASSIE BELTS HIS HEART OUT TO SONG ABOUT HIM
In a hilarious clip posted on X, Rassie Erasmus joined Afrikaans singer Rikus De Beer – also known as Radio Raps – in singing a song in his namesake.
The catchy tune is sampled from The Cranberries’ Irish struggle song Zombie, which became an anthem for Bok fans during the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Rassie tweeted a clip of him singing along to the infamous chorus, which first gained popularity last year, much to the annoyance of Irish fans.
However, it was clear that the Boks coach – clearly enjoying a beer or “brandewyn” – was totally off-key.
He jokingly tweeted: “Please don’t see this as windgat [showing off]. Just having fun…and learning the words.”
WHAT IS THE CRANBERRIES’ ‘ZOMBIE’ ABOUT?
Although the Rassie rugby remix has become the Springboks’ unofficial anthem, there is a deep-rooted history behind the iconic song.
According to the Irish News, Dolores O’Riordan, the lead singer of The Cranberries, wrote Zombie as an anti-terrorism and anti-IRA (Irish Republic Army) song.
Released in 1994, it came months after a bombing in the town of Warrington killed two young children and injured 54 others during The Troubles conflict in Northern Ireland.
O’Riordan told Songwriting Magazine of the song: “There were a lot of bombs going off in London. I remember this one time a child was killed when a bomb was put in a rubbish bin. That’s why there’s that line in the song, ‘A child is slowly taken.’
Irish rugby fans have previously expressed their unhappiness with South Africans making the song about Bok coach Rassie Erasmus.
Rugby TikToker The Leincester Guy posted: “It’s a song about two kids that were killed in a bombing. Don’t make it about your coach”.
ARE YOU A FAN OF THE ‘RASSIE REMIX’?
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