"Hearts of England" is the title of England team

England national rugby league team

The England national rugby league team represent England in international rugby league football tournaments. The team has now seen a revival, having largely formed from the Great Britain team, who also represented Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The team is run under the auspices of the Rugby Football...

 anthem for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup

2008 Rugby League World Cup

The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since the inauguration of the tournament in 1954, and the first since the 2000 event...

. The song was performed by Jonathan Ansell

Jonathan Ansell

Jonathan Mark Ansell is an English singer, formerly the high tenor of the vocal group G4.Jonathan Ansell was born in Bognor Regis in 1982, where both his parents were primary school teachers. Influenced by his mother’s tapes of Pavarotti and the Three Tenors, Jonathan joined the West Sussex Boys'...

 and produced by Universal Music in partnership with the Rugby Football League

Rugby Football League

The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league football in England. Based at Red Hall in Leeds, it administers the England national rugby league team, the Challenge Cup, Super League and the Rugby League Championships...

.

Theme

The lyrics were meant to encapsulate the "traditions and heartlands of rugby league in this country as well as evoking the heroism and commitment of international teams competing on the world sporting stage".

Live performances

Ansell performed the song live at rugby league's Challenge Cup

Challenge Cup

The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....

 Final at Wembley Stadium

Wembley Stadium

The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...

on Saturday, 30 August 2008.

The song is expected to be performed live before England's World Cup matches in Australia.