The Catalans voted massively and win the tournament. The Estaca, the song of the USAP, crowned the best hymn of the Top 14. The competition, called “Fan Days” was organized by the National Rugby League on April 23 for supporters.
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The song of the sacred USAP best hymn of the Top 14. A great victory for Estaca and the Catalan supporters who voted massively to win this national tournament.
Organized from April 23 by the National Rugby League (LNR), the competition was intended to highlight the various hymns and songs that resonate in the pregnant of the stages of France. Unique songs for each rugby club.
On the grounds or in the stands, the atmosphere never goes unnoticed! Especially when the players feel pushed, helped by their sixteenth man.
Top 14 National Rugby League
Called “Fan Days”, the competition took place according to the codes of a tournament, from the 8th finals to the final on May 1, 2025.
Smooth, sixteen mythical songs and hymns, from RC Toulon and its famous “Pilou Pilou” to the “Life is life” of the Stade Français. But it’s life! At the end of the votes, it was the Catalans who won champions of the title, in the final phase, before the traditional “Peña Baiona” of the Bayonnais Aviron.
A victory for the blood and gold of Perpignan, who transform the essay to the delight of singer Hugues Di Francesco, who heats the Aimé Giral stadium before the entry of the players by reinterpreting the emblematic title of Lluís Llach, Estaca.
-Estaca is part of the DNA of the USAP. It is a title that is registered, rooted. It is magnificent, especially since it is a national survey. The public spoke. It’s number one and it’s really nice. The fact that this song is in Catalan gives a very special emotion to people, whether you understand or not the language elsewhere.
Hugues Di Francesco, singer
It was in 1998, a great year, that the USAP adopted Estaca thanks to the fervor of a group of supporters. Since then, the song has become an essential element, sung before each start of the match. More than a song, Estaca is a real symbol of identity but also a brand of loyalty to the Catalan rugby club.
The words recall the solidarity and the force that emerge when individuals come together to achieve a common goal. For USAP supporters, this represents their commitment to their team and their city, as well as the pride of being Catalan.
Traditional Catalan song, the stake was written by Lluís Llach in 1968. Symbol of the fight against Franco oppression in Catalonia, the song quickly became a hymn of very popular resistance and freedom in Catalan country but which also inspired struggles far beyond the Pyrenees.
Translated in more than fifty languages, Estaca is undoubtedly the most popular Catalan song in the world.
The first adaptation of the‘Stakewas recorded in Occitan in 1972 by the singer-songwriter Patric to challenge censorship. In all, there are more than 250 versions of this hymn to freedom. Versions in Regional, Basque, Breton, Corsica, Occitan or so -called minority languages from different countries, notably the Sicilian and Yiddish.
Adopted during major social movements, Estaca in its Polish version in 1978 by Jacek Kaczmarski entitled Walls (The walls), in the early 1980s became the official hymn of the Solidarnoλć union (Solidarité), which helped overthrow the Communist regime in its country. In an interview, Llach explained that Walls had become so popular in Poland that during a trip to the country, premises accused the Catalan author, of wanting to appropriate their musical heritage.
