The Springboks’ loss to France was overshadowed by a debacle surrounding the performance of the South African national anthem. After the match, enraged Springbok representatives claimed that a poor rendition of the anthem insulted the vistors and affected their play.

Even after it was revealed that South African representatives were responsible for recommending the anthem’s performer, France found itself apologizing. The singer offered his own explanation that he had been sabotaged, though some government officials in South Africa were unconvinced and went so far as to suggest the performance was an act of treason. (Though it bears mention that this particular anthem has been butchered in the past by home crowds as well, and more deliberately.)

We’re hoping that the whole fiasco is over, but we are also reminded that the issue of suspiciously subpar anthem performances for visiting sides is not terribly uncommon. On the same weekend, for example, there were murmurs about a sound failure during the performance of New Zealand’s national anthem before the All Blacks put away Italy. Earlier this year, the United States’ loss to Canada was prefaced by an error in the American anthem’s performance.

The idea of pinning a loss or a poor performance on a sabotoged anthem might be a stretch, although it wouldn’t be the first time a hometown conspiracy was blamed for a rugby union loss. That said, one has to wonder if we might see some sort of regulatory efforts from the International Rugby Board to ensure consistent standards applied to anthems and other pre-match events.

In case you haven’t yet got to hear the anthem heard ’round the world, here is a clip of that much-maligned performance from this past weekend:

And here’s another performance of the anthem for comparison.

And just for good measure, here’s one more effort to make amends by the now-infamous singer:

There’s not much musical nous here at Armchair Playmaker, so you’ll have to draw your own conclusions.

ESPN, which doesn’t exactly air a lot of rugby union, is showing the USA v. Canada World Cup qualifying match this Saturday at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. If you want to see rugby union on television in the United States, you’re only part of the solution if you show ESPN why it’s worth their time to broadcast it. “They should show rugby on TV,” is a comment lament heard in the United States among enthusiasts, but not all of them step up to make it worth the networks’ trouble.

Problem is, it’s unlikely that ESPN will know you watched the match unless you are in one of the relatively few households that are used to collect ratings data by Nielsen (or some other group). So how else can you tell ESPN that you like seeing rugby union on television?

If you have access to ESPN360 on the Internet, you may want to watch it there to help the most. Only some Internet providers have access to ESPN360, so you may not have the option, but if you do you may want to watch the match online (a few times). Strangely enough, it can be more positive for a television program’s success if you watch it online than if you watch it on television because of how Internet viewing is tracked (plus some tendencies preferences associated with the online audience that are attractive to some advertisers). Incidentally, there is plenty of other rugby and rugby league to see on ESPN360 if you have access.

If you can’t or won’t watch the match online, you can still us the Internet to cast a vote for rugby union. One option is to send a quick comment to ESPN through their online form to let them know that you are glad to have the match on and want to see more. While you’re at it, you can take a second to hit the little “recommend” button on the USA Today story about this week’s match to show your support for news coverage of rugby as well.

A drop in the bucket, of course, but not a lot of work and better than nothing. Want to see more rugby on American TV? Do something about it!

In the meantime, the Eagles have their work cut out for them. The United States haven’t beaten Canada since 2005 and did not finish strong when the sides met last year. While you’re waiting for Saturday, have a look at some moments from the 2008 USA-Canada showdown:

The United States wheelchair rugby team won the gold medal yesterday at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, China. The U.S. side, who also won world championships in 1996 and 2000 but lost in the semifinals in 2004, defeated Australia in the 2008 final. This may come as good news to fans of the 2005 documentary film Murderball, which followed the United States’ thwarted world championsip run in 2004 and brought wheelchair rugby to a massive worldwide audience.

In case you haven’t had a chance to watch Murderball, or in case you just want to see a bit more of the sport, we’ve compiled some videos here. For those interested in how wheelchair rugby is played (there are also other variations, such as wheelchair rugby league), the below clip provides some basic background:

Here are some highlights from the United States’ win over Canada (the nation where the sport was invented) earlier in the 2008 games:

Here is a video from the 2008 silver medalists, Australia’s Steelers:

Finally, here are a few big hits to show that wheelchair rugby is definitely intense:

There will be more such matches Saturday, when Canada West and the U.S. Falcons (who currently share the top of the table with 2-0 records) play at 2:00 p.m. Pacific U.S. time (5:00 p.m. Eastern U.S. time). After that, Canada East and the U.S. Hawks (both 0-2 so far), will play at 4:00 p.m. Pacific U.S. Time (7:00 p.m. Eastern U.S. time). These matches, the last of the round-robin series, will determine seeding of the semifinal matches to begin at the end of the month. Live feeds of the matches will be available at the NA4 site.

If you can’t wait for the live feeds, some clips from the first match of the series (played in May between the two Canadian sides) are available below. Armchair Playmaker will be sure to share more match clips as they turn up.

In the 2008 series’ first match on May 17, Canada West beat Canada East 20-15. Tonight, the U.S. Hawks play the U.S. Falcons in the second match of the tournament. You can watch the match live for free at the NA4 site starting at 6:30 p.m. Pacific U.S. Time/9:30 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time.

Given the United States sides’ recent troubles, the good news is that an American side looks like winning tonight!

Despite the loss, the Eagles must be optimistic about the future contributions of new coach Scott Johnson, who was an Australia assistant coach in 2007 and joined the Eagles just before the tournament. Johnson expressed frustration with the side’s fitness, noting that “we can play forty minutes of footy” and “they were spent at halftime.” Johnson also suggested changes ahead, though, promising to “find the players that can come out of this great nation” and claiming, “We’ve got to find people that don’t use lack of money as the excuse. We want professional people, and that just doesn’t mean money. That means attitude.” in a post-match television interview.

Johnson also appears to have also brought along former Australian defensive coach John Muggleton for some quick help before Muggleton begins his tenure as an assistant with the Llanelli Scarlets in Wales. Muggleton, who was seen on the sideline for the United States in a first-half television interview, had finished with the Wallabies under stormy terms and believed that he was considered a “mungo” during his time with the Wallabies due to his rugby league history, must have been glad to visit the United States, where most don’t know what a mungo is–or what rugby league is, for that matter.

The good news is that Canada’s Under-20 side broke the North American losing streak in the Junior World Championship by beating Fiji 17-10.

The bad news is that the win put North American representative sides at 1-7 on the week. In the Churchill Cup, the United States fell to Ireland “A” 46-9 while Canada lost 17-16 to Argentina “A.” In the Junior World Championship, the United States was beaten 20-6 by Samoa and 41-14 by Scotland, and Canada’s lone win over Fiji was tempered by a 60-18 hiding from England. Meanwhile, England Counties won a rematch over a U.S. Select side 31-16, then put down a Canada select side 31-6.

And then there’s the ambiguous news. A North American side is guaranteed to win (or at least not lose in case of an honorable draw) a Churchill Cup match Saturday, as the United States and Canada are set to play for the Churchill Cup’s wooden spoon (a.k.a. the “bowl final”).

In the Junior World Championship, Canada will take on Scotland while the United States matches up with Fiji. Both of those matches are scheduled for Wednesday.

• In the Barclays Churchill Cup’s opening weekend, the United States took a 64-10 beating from the England Saxons (England’s second-level national side, previously known as England “A”), while Canada was beaten by Scotland A (Scotland’s second-level national side).
• Meanwhile, in the Junior World Championship (world championship for national teams of players under twenty years of age), the scorelines were more lopsided. South Africa cracked the ton on the United States 108-18, while Canada fell 81-12 to Australia.
• Finally, the England Counties side, a touring team put together in 2002 to provide amateur and semi-professional English players international playing opportunities, won 27-3 over a U.S. select side (essentially a U.S. “A” made up of players who did not make the U.S. Churchill Cup side).

It’s important to point out that there is no great shame in those results, as the representative sides each North American side played were packed with great players, but hopefully things will look better for the North American sides this week. In the Churchill Cup, the United States will next take on Ireland “A” on Wednesday, while Canada will face Argentina “A” on Saturday. In the Junior World Championship, the USA lines up against Samoa and Canada faces England, with both matches scheduled for tomorrow. The U.S. select side also gets one more crack at England Counties tonight.

Below are brief highlights from the North American sides’ first Churchill Cup outings. Most of the action is from the European sides, with exceptions: