Rugby: Wales bans “Delilah”, the fan anthem that evokes a feminicide

LONDON – “She stood there laughing / I felt the knife in my hand and she laughed no more”. “And she just stood there laughing, but I felt the knife in my hand and she stopped laughing.” Can you imagine a song with similar verses in today’s world, with references to violence, feminicide and misogynistic jealousy? Well, you may have recognized her, but this song is nothing less than “Delilah” of the legendary Welsh singer Tom Jonesmultiple award-winning and number two in the British sales charts in 1968. Not only that: Delilah, to this day, has also always been a much-loved song by Welsh rugby fans. Indeed an unofficial anthem for them.

Delilah will no longer be sung

But from today it won’t be anymore. It is in fact blacklisted for the famous refrain “My, my Delilah! Why, why, why, Delilah!”. Because that very ritual pop song has now been banned by the Welsh rugby union and will be removed from the playlist of the stadiums where the national team will play. “The Welsh Rugby Union”, reads a statement from the sports institution, “condemns any type of domestic violence, for this reason Delilah will no longer have a place during our matches”.

A choice he didn’t like

So ‘Delilah’ will not be sung at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on Saturday when Wales kick off the Six Nations by hosting Ireland. It’s hard to imagine now how the fans will react and if they will challenge the edict by singing it in the stadium. Someone is already muttering, like the 21-year-old national team player Louis Rees-Zammit: “With everything they have to do, they think about this…”, he tweeted.

The first victim of the new course

Rees-Zammit refers to the latest scandal involving the leaders of the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) and which indirectly also caused Delilah to be banned. In recent days, a report by the BBC had in fact revealed a toxic “culture” within the federation, including misogyny, sexism, racism and homophobia. A scandal that caused, among other things, the resignation of the president of the WRU, Steve Phillips. His successor Nigel Walker has promised cleanup. Delilah is the first notable victim.