Rugby League World Cup starts with shambles as PA system goes out before England opener leaving Kaiser Chiefs red faced
KAISER CHIEFS frontman Ricky Wilson was forced to keep the crowd entertained at the Rugby League World Cup opening ceremony.
That’s after the public address system BROKE at St James’ Park.
The embarrassing incident occurred just minutes before the curtain-raiser between England and Samoa which the hosts won 60-6.
The hugely-anticipated opener ended up kicking off over 10 minutes late as a result.
And former England international Jon Wilkin said on the BBC: “I wonder, at the Olympics would you chuck the opening ceremony before the 100m final? You can say it’s funny but it’s not.”
Kaiser Chiefs took to the pitch as the headline music act to perform their hit ‘Oh My God’.
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But the ceremony was soon disrupted when the public address system went down and Kaiser Chiefs were forced to cut short their show.
Singer Wilson took to sprinting up and down the touchline to raise spirits as the pre-tournament show ended abruptly.
Prior to the unfortunate mishap, Rob Burrow had got the 2021 Rugby League World Cup off to an emotional start when he launched the welcome event in Newcastle.
The former Leeds and England scrum-half, who is battling motor neurone disease, received a rapturous welcome from the 40,000-plus crowd.
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A parade of the flags representing all 32 teams across the men’s, women’s and wheelchair competitions then kicked things off.
Former Great Britain scrum-half Andy Gregory was the England flag-bearer.
Ex-England captain Kevin Sinfield and dual-code international Jason Robinson then brought out the Paul Barriere trophy, which will be awarded to the winners of the men’s competition on November 19.
Mel Magee, head of Newcastle Rugby Foundation, joined wheelchair ambassador James Simpson in delivering the wheelchair trophy.
And RFL president Clare Balding then brought out the women’s trophy alongside Fareeha Usman, an equality and diversity champion in the local community.