Carina van Wyk and Jo Prins

Johannesburg - Oregan Hoskins, president of the South African rugby union, has sent a letter of complaint to the French rugby union regarding the version of the South African anthem performed on Friday evening, ahead of the match between the two countries in Toulouse, France.

Video: Botched South African anthem

The singer, Ras Dumisani, sang off-key and was not in tune to the music, and at times it sounded like shouting rather than singing. The Springboks struggled to sing along with the well-known reggae singer, who, according to his MySpace profile, grew up in Durban in KwaZulu-Natal and now lives in France.

Bryan Habana clearly struggled not to laugh, and there was a hint of a smile at the corners of Danie Rossouw's mouth.

Hoskins said on Sunday he is "very, very disappointed" about the way in which the anthem was sung, and that he has already sent a letter to the French rugby union in this regard. He feels it was "absolutely disrespectful" toward the Springboks and South Africa.

The Rapport newspaper reported on Sunday that Shoyab Casoo, of the South African embassy in France, said the embassy had supplied the French rugby union with a list of South African artists as requested, but had not recommended a specific artist.

"We just gave them the names of people we're aware of. We didn't know how well these people could sing."

Hoskins said he doesn't know what procedure was followed by the French when choosing the singer.

"When we choose singers, we make sure we get qualified people who know the words to the anthems."

When Beeld questioned Dumisani via Facebook, he blamed the poor performance on the sound equipment. According to him, he had complained about it during the sound check, but nothing was done about the matter.

"It was war, it was most certainly war. If you can't hear yourself, it's simply impossible to sing."

Dumisani said he's very sorry about the performance. He denied telling any journalist that he had performed well. "Because I wasn't singing, I was just shouting."

JJ Harmse reported from London that Bok Heinrich Brüssow said that, while the national anthem was being sung on Friday, he "tried to think about other things so [he] wouldn't have to listen to that guy".

"Anyone who's sung the national anthem before would know it doesn't sound like that. I honestly struggled not to burst out laughing."

Rautie Rautenbach, deputy president of SA Rugby, said it was humiliating for South Africa and for the Springboks.

"Even the French guests apologised to us in the pavilion. For that guy to say he knows the words or that he thinks people said he was good, is rubbish."