Ok so the BIG game is just about to start. During all the preamble we have been treated to a rousing rendition of “swing low”. Why oh why is this the English chant/song?
Don’t get me wrong I think it sounds kinda groovy, but religion and poms never seemed to go hand in hand to me.
Why do they sing this? and when did it start?
Oh GO POMS btw.
(Aussies you know we kinda like you like brothers …but winning 3 times I can’t cope with)
I read yesterday it started after Chris Oti scored a couple of tries for England in the early eighties…
My personal opinion:
There’s only ten words to learn* and it can be sung for 80 minutes without ever winding the Aussies up…
*English Rugby Version…
Thanks for the “GO POMS”…
Over here we can tell the Kiwis from the …
[whining sound]
No doubt about it , Poms are the most musical of supporters.
Oh and I was in England the ONLY time we won…you could tell us then 
Go the Pommys make our, over the Tassie cuzzies cry…shit it must be their turn!
We can’t be the only Antipodean losers…can we?
Oh look barely kick off and they are in sound voice!
Why OH WHy am I watching this?
Because you wanted to see Australia get beat?!
Well, we did it for you 
It was a rugby drinking song (complete with hand actions) long before the eighties. I remember it as far back as the early seventies, and I was too young to know about it before that.
And as to the result - YESSS!
The actual music sources of English rugby songs are strangely eclectic. For instance, there’s another one - “As I was walking through a wood” - that’s sung with consecutive verses to the tango tune, “Hernando’s Hideaway”, then to the hymn “All People that on Earth do Dwell”.
I remember singing it when I did my stint in the RAF in the 60s. It was the hand actions that made the song unique. Especially the line
“Coming for to carry me home”
V
Sorry, meant to say, congratulations to England.