[Brekkie]

I think they'd already said their new VR studio would be used.

[Medianext.MX]

ESPN will offer exclusive coverage of the event in Latin America. The event will be available continent-wide, but coverage is being mostly orientated to South American viewers (including participating nations Argentina, Chile and Uruguay), where alongside streaming coverage in Star+, selected matches will air on ESPN Sur and ESPN2 Sur. In the northern half of the region, all matches and surrounding content will be exclusive to Star+.

espnpressroom.com 

Todo el Mundial de Rugby 2023 en STAR+ // Con una cobertura excepcional las 24 h…
Los 48 partidos en VIVO, shows diarios con los mejores analistas, documentales i…
  Source: espnpressroom.com

In Argentina, all Argentina matches (plus the final) have been sublicensed by ESPN and Pegsa to state broadcaster TVP to ensure FTA coverage is available nationwide:

tda.gob.ar -

Por la TDA: la TV Pública transmitirá las 5 competencias internacionales de nues…
Entre julio y diciembre vas a poder ver en la pantalla de la TV Pública las elim…
  Source: tda.gob.ar

[KrazyKei]

I think it is a disgrace that ITV are not using, World in Union, as the intro for this Rugby World Cup. I didn't mind ITV using Emeli Sande to sing the anthem as she was not the official singer four years ago. But to not even use what is the Rugby World Cup's anthem since 1991 for the intro is sadly a bad reflection in terms of getting rid of something that is a tradition and part of the Rugby World Cup identity.

I have nothing against, Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien, by Edith Pief but it is not a rugby anthem and it is not part of the Rugby World Cup tradition. I agree it is a French iconic song but if ITV are keen to have something done in French, why not do World in Union in French? I'd be up for that.

Rant over.

[Brekkie]

Oh, missed that but sounds like it may have been dropped by the tournament itself which is a shame, but may prevent ITV from using it themselves.

[Medianext.MX]

I have nothing against, Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien, by Edith Pief but it is not a rugby anthem and it is not part of the Rugby World Cup tradition. I agree it is a French iconic song but if ITV are keen to have something done in French, why not do World in Union in French? I'd be up for that.

And even the circunstances that based the song are completely different: Piaf wrote the song in honour of the Légion Étrangère during the Algerian Independence War, at a degree it is now used as an unofficial anthem, and sung during military parades, and also relates on her personal experiences and memories during her own life. As a result, it is often regared as the quintessential chanson française song, covered by French and international artists, and even used in TV series and films.

I think ITV’s decision had to do more with its quintessential status, rather than its real value in French sport. ITV’s coverage of another French-organised sporting event (the 1998 World Cup) had this Eurodance remix of Jean-Michel Jarre’s Fourth Rendez-vous (aptly titled Rendez-vous 98) by Apollo 440 and Jarre himself. It was not associated with the event whatsoever, however, it quickly became synonymous with ITV's coverage of the event and it charted at number 12.

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Being honest, it is a difficult decision to select the right song that can fit the right pace of the event, but World in Union is already strongly and heavily associated with the Rugby World Cup, so, if World Rugby took the decision to drop the anthem officially... difficult indeed.

[Rdd]

I don’t think “World in Union” was used for the world feed titles for Japan in 2019 iirc? But there was still a version recorded though and it may have been used in the opening ceremony.

“Non, je ne regrette rien” is an odd choice for opening titles though - it’s more the type of song you’d hear at the end of a tournament over a montage of images of your national team after they’ve lost their final game.

[ethanh05]

Shame they already used 'La Mer' for Euro 2016 (although I am biased, being Welsh and all; that theme is permanently embedded in my memories).

If there's one consolation to the lack of World in Union, at least we won't have a Paloma Faith standard of cover again.

[Brekkie]

I can see it working quite well with rugby TBH.

Even in 2015 the official titles only used a brief sample of World in Union.

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[Jon]

I guess they’re trying to go down the route of the international football tournament, with trying to give each edition a unique identity. Arguably they should have used something less obvious, but when ITV Sport does this kind of stuff it tends to work well on screen. If it works in it’s own right people won’t mind the axing of World In Union so much.

[RhysJR]

I guess they’re trying to go down the route of the international football tournament, with trying to give each edition a unique identity. Arguably they should have used something less obvious, but when ITV Sport does this kind of stuff it tends to work well on screen. If it works in it’s own right people won’t mind the axing of World In Union so much.

That is certainly true on World Rugby's part. After the rebrand from the IRB to World Rugby in 2014/15, they dropped the long-standing blue and green RWC logo, to have more individual design for each tournament based on a stylised version of the new World Rugby logo (they also had a weird idea for 2011 onwards of flipping the logo so the blue (sky) was on the bottom and the green (land/pitch) was on the top).

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I don’t think “World in Union” was used for the world feed titles for Japan in 2019 iirc? But there was still a version recorded though and it may have been used in the opening ceremony.

Correct, there was different music used for the world feed titles and background music in 2019. The same tune was also used for the 2021 Rugby World Cup (for women in 2022) and the 2022 Sevens Rugby World Cup, but adapted to sound more fitting to the host nation.

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There was an official version of World in Union, but that did not feature in the world feed or on ITV.

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