The Power of Four

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"The Power of Four" is a joint anthem for the four Home Nations of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland (where Ireland refers to both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland). It was composed by Neil Myers.

It is used mainly during events on the rare occasions where the countries are represented as one entity, and therefore using the national anthem of either the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland would be unsuitable.

It was first performed by Welsh opera singer Katherine Jenkins before the British and Irish Lions rugby union match against Argentina at the Millennium Stadium in 2005. It is always sung in English, and there are as yet no versions in any of the other languages spoken in Britain or Ireland.

The song has so far experienced a mixed response, to say the least. In July 2005, following the Lions tour, a journalist on the BBC Sport website, James Standley, commented that The Power Of Four is "hollow and disliked by fans" [1] while the Sunday Herald's Alasdair Reid called it "pompous and overblown" [2]. However, Lions coach Sir Clive Woodward said he hoped it would "stir the passions" [3].

[edit] Lyrics

From the four corners of our lands
We're united, hand in hand
Together
We're stronger
We join and proud we stand
Now the day has come, we are one
Standing tall for our Lions' call
We're stronger
Together
We are the power of four

[edit] See also

• British and Irish Lions

[edit] External link

• MP3 file from the British and Irish Lions' site. Note: here the text is slightly different: "our countries' call" rather than "our lions' call".