The day the music died at Carisbrook

By LIBBY MIDDLEBROOK

Sound system problems dashed the dream of a young Auckland singer on Saturday in the lead-up to a rugby test that ruined the hopes of the nation.

Australian rugby fans hurled abuse at Thomas Stowers after his performance of Advance Australia Fair at the opening of the Bledisloe Cup test.

The 21-year-old had been called in at the last minute to perform in front of the 36,000-strong Dunedin crowd, after Lapi Mariner missed his flight from Los Angeles.

An upcoming baritone, it was Mr Stowers' dream to sing at Carisbrook, where his grandfather, Tom Katene, played as an All Black in a 1955 test against Australia.

As the television cameras focused on Mr Stowers he appeared to forget the Australian anthem's words, hesitating through the first few lines before stopping altogether.

But Mr Stowers said he did know the words and it was a technical fault that cut the sound, leaving the Australian players and crowd to carry on alone.

"I am really beating myself up about it, but I know it's not my fault, it was just one of those things," said Mr Stowers, whose live performance was watched by an estimated 700,000 television viewers in New Zealand alone.

"I felt really bad walking through the stadium to get changed. There was lots of jeers and rude gestures."

The New Zealand Rugby Union invited Mr Stowers to sing the pre-match anthems about 16 hours before the start of the match, which the Wallabies won 23-15.

Sound checks during the day showed no problems.

Australian Rugby Union spokesman Strath Gordon said rugby fans had been "particularly sensitive" about the country's national anthem since a modern interpretation at the Bledisloe Cup Tri-Nations' match in Wellington last year by Australian pop girl group Bardot.

Gordon said the organisation was sympathetic to Saturday's organisers, who had run into unexpected difficulties.

But one Australian fan was not so understanding. In an e-mail to the Herald yesterday, Bill Lang said he had never seen such a "shameful performance" of the anthem.

Australian Daily Telegraph columnist Mike Gibson said the All Blacks "bumbled, stumbled and fumbled" their way to defeat after an even more "abysmal" rendition of the Australian anthem.

He also put the boot into Dunedin: " ... a more damp and bone-chilling hole would be hard to find."