Ireland legend has revealed why he never sang the national anthem

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The Ulsterman is celebrated as one of Ireland’s greatest and most successful captains, though his Northern Irish heritage has occasionally made him a target for criticism.

While it's understandable why Best doesn't sing "Amhrán na bhFiann" before Ireland's home matches, the 36-year-old has faced criticism for not singing "Ireland's Call" – a song created to represent the entire island of Ireland in rugby internationals – especially given his role as captain.

But Best has a fairly straightforward explanation for this, detailing his reasoning in an excellent interview with former teammate Darren Cave on 

“Look, the thing is, it’s so ironic that you get abused for it, and nobody’s ever stopped and asked you, ‘why don’t you sing it?’” Best said

“It goes back to my Ireland Schools’ days. And you know what it’s like playing Ireland’s Schools’, you know, you think it’s going to be the greatest honour you’re ever going to achieve. You’re playing for Ireland. Being from rugby families like we were, you’re going ‘this is incredible!’. You get so emotionally charged for it. And Ireland’s Call comes on that you’ve heard so many times in the old Lansdowne Road or watching on TV, and you’re belting it out.”

“And I remember we played France or England. Kicked off. I’m flying up going ‘the first guy is getting it!’. They catch it, kick it out, and I’m then turning around, running back to get a ball, still thinking ‘somebody’s gonna to get it’., and I fired this throw in and it went, like I sort of tell the story that it went three times the height of the person I was throwing it to, it wasn’t that bad! And it flew over the top.”

“From then on, I went, I can’t go into a game… because it’s so emotive to me, Ireland’s Call. And actually, even the tail end of the Irish national anthem, you know the way you get that build up for that crescendo at the end. They’re memories I have from going to the old Lansdowne Road to watch, this build up, and then the massive cheer, and then Ireland’s Call coming on.”

“The problem is then, I worry that it’s going to happen in a big game. That we’re going to kick off against the All Blacks, Beauden Barrett’s going to catch it, kick it out, and then I’m fully charged, trying to focus in. And it is such a core skill. It’s a bit like goalkicking, you have to get your heart rate down, you have to focus, get your breathing back, and focus for that split second to throw the perfect throw and that’s just why I did it,"

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