Rugby World Cup - Examining the Broadcaster

FOR most of us, this year’s Rugby World Cup will be primarily viewed from the comfort of our armchairs and barstools. So what can we expect from the one and only broadcaster screening games in the UK?

 

ITV are the perennial upstarts of international rugby coverage in this country, sticking their head in every four years since 1991 to claim ownership of the sport’s biggest event from the more accomplished BBC, Sky Sports and latterly BT Sport, who take responsibility for Six Nations matches, the Aviva Premiership, European domestic competitions and Lions tours between them.

 

As a result, the broadcaster does not have an established line-up of presenters, commentators and pundits in place and, consequently, ITV have had to go fishing in the freelance market to assemble a squad of strength for the upcoming tournament.

 

So, how is the team looking?

 

Well, ITV have sewn together a patchwork quilt of recognisable faces, rugby brains and sharp talkers – sensibly following formulas devised by other channels in their coverage of the sport in recent years.

 

Anchoring the process is John Inverdale, an experienced head to dictate play from behind the scrum.

 

Inverdale’s slack tongue had landed himself in choppy waters in recent years, be it through his invention of rose-c***ted glasses during live coverage of the Cheltenham Festival or a highly improper critique of tennis player Marion Bartoli following a Wimbledon triumph. But despite being prone to the odd faux pas, Inverdale’s experience in the industry is older than his hairstyle and his presentation style both relaxed and to the point. He’s likely to get away with referring to Paul O’Connell as “not much of a looker”, as well.

 

Mark Durden-Smith and Craig Doyle, though not of the calibre of Inverdale, at least have rugby presenting pasts to fall back on as deputies in the studio hotseat.

 

It remains to be seen how ITV package their content, particularly with regards to highlights shows, which have increasingly swayed from analysis to interactivity across several sports in recent years.

 

The ratings-plunging effects of the ‘Wimbledon 2Day’ idea and the difficult start to life endured by Channel 5’s ‘Football League Tonight’ should suggest that unbroken formats don’t need even so much as the turn of a wrench.

 

The watching public will be much better appeased with informed and informative breakdowns of what has happened or is about to happen during the six-week tournament.

 

On paper, that’s what ITV appear to be setting out to achieve.

 

Studio guests represent a diverse rugby world, even though many of them are as familiar to us as a morning cup of coffee.

 

Johnny Wilkinson will provide acute-to-the-point-of-emotional analysis, Lawrence Dallaglio doesn’t shy away from an opinion and Sir Clive Woodward plays the ‘back in my day’ role.

 

Michael Lynagh, Sean Fitzpatrick and Francois Pienaar continue their tour of UK broadcasters, while ex-Australia fly-half Sean Gregan is an interesting addition. As is former Wales man Gareth Thomas, just as long as he isn’t constantly being billed “rugby’s first openly gay player”. Total Bath accepts the irony of that previous sentence.

 

Maggie Alphonsi, a Women’s World Cup winner with England, is a new face and it’ll be fascinating to see how many times she’s asked to analyse Georgia, Tonga, Romania and Namibia instead of the top teams in the competition, while the line-up is completed by ex-England internationals Jason Robinson and David Flatman.

 

In the commentary box, Eddie Butler’s absence will be perhaps the most notable (Butler is to spend his time with ITV Cymru during the tournament), but Miles Harrison and Nick Mullins are fine wordsmiths in their own right. They are supported by Jon Champion, Martin Gillingham and Simon Ward.

 

Co-commentary is without the tiresome Brian Moore, who claimed on Twitter to have been considered “too controversial” for inclusion, and the likes of Geordan Murphy, Scott Hastings and Shane Williams will bring a Gaelic feel. Ben Kay, the final member of the punditry team, will hope to hang on to the microphone in the event of England reaching the final.

 

ITV have embraced the app generation with a free downloadable World Cup version of their own, which gives users the chance to cast their decisions on debatable tries as well as having a go at in-play penalty kicks from their own phones. We’re not convinced ‘Kick It!’ as it’s called, will kick off.