Well, the men in red have done it, the 2008 RBS Six Nations Triple Crown has been won by Wales in a frankly, slow-paced game at Croke Park in Dublin. Neither Wales nor Ireland looked like taking full control of the game, and things where still touch-and-go in the last 5 minutes.
So while the Welsh walk away with the first silverware of the tournament, an honorary wooden spoon has to go the BBC for their exclusive and increasingly amateurish coverage of what is the Northern Hemisphere’s premier rugby tournament.
Now it’s been known for a while that certain presenters are pretty poor – John Inverdale forgot which tournament he was at in the build up to the England v France game – but the standard of commentary and ‘analysis’ is also starting deteriorate. The 15 minutes of build-up to today’s Wales v Ireland for example was blighted by an in-depth analysis of why the Welsh team walked onto the pitch still wearing their coats. Fascinating! Who cares? I certainly don’t, I want to see the team roasters, hear the anthems and get on with watching the match. I couldn’t care less if Ryan Jones et al, came out in nuns wimples and tutus! Ok, I might be a bit worried and it would make playing the game difficult, but ultimately it makes little or no difference.
The BBC’s new sports signing Gabby Logan has made it abundantly clear in this tournament that she either doesn’t know the first thing about rugby, or else simply doesn’t care, hence it isn’t surprising she started discussing the Welsh attire. What annoys me is that Keith Wood and Jonathan Davies, two knowledgeable ex-players and respected commentators, went along with it.
None of this however is even in the same league of irritation as the well known wine critic and occasional ranting idiot Brian Moore. On several occasions in his commentary on the England v France match, he descended into the kind of ranting you expect to see in your local pub. Now I’ve nothing against people getting excited when their team plays well or plays poorly, indeed, I starting yelling so loudly I scare the dog and my wife kicks me out into the garden until I calm down. The difference is I’m not commentating to an international audience. Moore may well feel agrieved that his team (England) aren’t playing to their potential but as viewers, we are expecting Moore to tell us why they aren’t playing well.
And finally, the crowning achievement, so far this tournament, of uninformed and even biased commentary: Austin Healey at the end of the England v France game (the third round in the five round tournament) excitingly announcing that the England v Ireland match on the last weekend would be the decider. Well at the time Ireland were second in the table… behind Wales, who had won all three of their matches. England by contrast were fourth having only won two matches – and struggled in both victories – and lost one.
As another ex-player Healey should know better than anyone that you never count your chickens before they’ve hatched, especially with six matches still to play. How anyone could not just discount but totally ignore the only side to have won all their matches as contenders for the title is something only he can answer.
Perhaps standards will improve on the final weekend.
Filed under: Uncategorized , BBC, broadcasting, Rugby, sport, Wales
