Ranking the Rugby World Cup Quarter-Finalists by National Anthem

It's that one moment, just before kick-off, just before the final advertisements have flashed before our eyes, where we're given a glimpse into the pride of our heroes.

The pre-match national anthem is one of those rare moments where sport and music collides and the camera pans along a line of athletes either singing well, singing poorly, or not singing at all.

It's also an opportunity to hear the collective sound of a nation and pick out some of the more passionate members of the crowd.

And with the Rugby World Cup 2015 about to enter the quarter-final stage, we've given ourselves the tough challenge of filtering through the remaining national anthems to find which is the best.

Based on performance, tune and general enjoyability, here are Bleacher Report's Rugby World Cup quarter-final national anthem rankings.

Scotland

Sorry, bagpipes, but it's just not working out.

To add to the painful backing track of this one, the rather emotionless performance by Scotland's starting XV and the fact that one fan even needs a lyric sheet sees it sit right down the bottom of our rankings.

Anthem Ranking: 2/10

Argentina

The Argentinian national anthem takes just too long to warm up to grab the attention.

Sadly, while the anthem itself isn't half bad, the players' performance lets Argentina down on this occasion.

The team frankly looks bored to start with, and then they're just a little bit too close to the microphone for our liking.

Anthem Ranking: 5/10

New Zealand

The New Zealand national anthem has been slightly outshone by the haka as the All Blacks' main source of national pride.

A slow number, it's not much of a singalong, but the good news is that it's repeated halfway through—so all's not lost if you're running late.

Anthem Ranking: 5.5/10

Australia

A fairly convoluted build-up is required before the Wallabies launch into this one.

To give it credit, it's catchy enough, but the players lack the passion to push it further up the rankings.

Points are lost, too, by the team leaving their marks before the singer has finished the tune. Bad form.

Anthem Ranking: 6/10

France

A bit more upbeat than those before it, "La Marseillaise" is one that can get the whole crowd going as well.

It wastes no time getting right to the point, and it doesn't require a great deal of melodic training—a handy point when two dozen men are roaring down a camera.

Anthem Ranking: 7.5/10

South Africa

In easily the tastiest of the quarter-final anthem matchups, South Africa will square off against Wales.

Working in South Africa's favour is the wonderful reaction of the fans, players and coaches to the singing of the anthem.

Working against them is the complex tune that actually requires an in-key performance to really pop—an ask that might be just too far for the everyday rugby fan.

Anthem Ranking: 8/10

Ireland

"Ireland's Call" is another catchy one and moves slightly away from tradition.

The song was commissioned by the Irish RFU to represent both sides of the divide between north and south.

Not a bad singalong for the fans, too, who will be belting it out against Argentina this weekend.

Look carefully during this clip and you'll even see a Frenchman getting involved.

Anthem Ranking: 8.5/10

Wales

A deserved and predictable number one.

Maybe it's the perfect performance of 80,000 fans, or the fact that each of the squad appear to be competent enough singers, but Wales' anthem is the perfect warm-up to a Test match.

They'll be slightly further from home during Saturday's match against South Africa at Twickenham, London, but no doubt the travelling support will be in full voice.

Anthem Ranking: 9.5/10