South Africans will be belting out their version of Irish folk song Zombie – now paying homage to Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus – when the countries clash this weekend.
The song was created by The Cranberries in 1994 as an anti-terrorism song.
For the last two years, it has become a “diss track” to Ireland.
RASSIE X ZOMBIE – HOW DID IT ALL BEGIN?
Almost three decades after its release, Zombie was given a remix by Dylan James, a Springbok superfan who uses the popular X handle, Captain Springbok.
The die-hard fan – a South African living in London – attended the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, where he witnessed Ireland beat the Boks in the group stage round.
A few days after the loss, Captain Springboks predicted South Africa would win the World Cup, despite the devastating loss to their fierce rivals.
Now feeling positive, the superfan created a poster and a song, which was inspired by The Cranberries’ historical anthem.
He later told a news reporter: “After we lost to Ireland, I couldnt get the Zombie song out of my head, so I changed the words to Rassie…This is for Rassie and the boys”.
The song was sung throughout the rest of the World Cup, and when South Africa lifted the trophy.
OFFICIAL RASSIE REMIX
A few months after the Rugby World Cup, Afrikaans muso Rikus De Beer – also known as Radio Raps –released a full-length song to Rassie Erasmus, sampling The Cranberries’ Zombie.
This came shortly before South Africa’s two-test match against Ireland last July.
The song featured the cheeky words:
Die Iere huil vur ure [The Irish cry for hours]
Soos ‘n hartseer song op vinyl [Like a sad song on vinyl]
Voor jy juig en voor skares wil buig [Before you and crowds cheer]
Wen eers ‘n quarter-final [First win a quarter-final]
En ons leef en ons sing [We live and we sing]
Beker huis toe gebring [We brought the Cup home]
In your head, in your head, we are frightening!
Hulle try and probeer [They try]
Ons defense penetreer [to penetrate our defence]
In your head, in your head, we are frightening!
Hy’s in your head, in your head…Rassie, Rassie, Rassie!
THE SAD ORIGIN OF ZOMBIE
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 Republican 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”.
