Why does "swing low sweet chariot"get sung at england rugby matches?

Question

i always thought the song came the deep south of the usa.so whats it got to do with english rugby

Answer 1

The fact that it only has two lines makes it easy for the fans to remember.

Answer 2

Years ago, (and still sometimes), players would go out drinking after a match, sometimes they would get drunk and sing. This song (Hymn) was a particular favourite, as they used to do hand signs as they sang the song. Sweet charriot, they they would act like they were holding reins. Coming - I`ll let you imagine. Home- holding the hands together like the roof of a house etc etc. Very childish, but thats how it all started, now 40 years later its become the Rugby anthem.

Answer 3

Here is the full story behind it:

Coming into the last match of the 1988 season, against Ireland at Twickenham, England had lost 15 of their previous 23 matches in the Five Nations Championship. The Twickenham crowd had only seen one solitary England try in the previous two years and at half time against Ireland they were 0-3 down. During the second half the floodgates opened and England scored a remarkable six tries in a thumping 35-3 win. Three of the tries came in quick succession from Chris Oti, a black player making his Twickenham debut. A group from the Benedictine school Douai started to sing a rugby club favourite – the gospel hymn Swing Low, Sweet Chariot – in honour of their new hero, the whole crowd joined in. Since then it was adobted as a regular song by the english team.

Answer 4

The upper class hooray henries at Twickers started singing it after a run of bad form and it caught on from there and they seem to sing it when England are in front. God they are the most boring team on the planet to watch though and I am English. I stopped watching with  25minutes to go. The crowd went into a frenzy when someone ran 5 yards without being tackled. Give me rugby league any day.

Answer 5

It has been a Rugby anthem for many years, but during the eighties, England were having a bad run of luck and didn't score a try for many games, when the first try was scored after this drought, the crowd starting singing this song, and since then, the English have adopted it as their anthem!