Commentators

[SimonP in Surrey]

Talking of Squidge Rugby, there are a few decent youtube channels like Squidge Rugby that make a competent watch. Squidge talks sense but is very quirky in his humour and delivery style, whereas RugbyAnalyst is more normal but still decisive. The best one I have seen historically is The 1014 Rugby channel. They do seem to have disappeared however ?

[Louis]

I enjoy Brian Moore's commentary for it's bluntness and accuracy, I enjoy Eddie Butler's commentary for the accents and every time Teddy Thomas touches the ball the man practically has an intimate personal moment and cries the player's name in a manner that is borderline indecent.

If either were replaced, I'd live. Maybe time to give Squidge Rugby a go...

If that's Johnathan Davies you are referring to then, No No No Thanks dreadful.

Isn't he Jiffy?

[Louis]

Talking of Squidge Rugby, there are a few decent youtube channels like Squidge Rugby that make a competent watch. Squidge talks sense but is very quirky in his humour and delivery style, whereas RugbyAnalyst is more normal but still decisive. The best one I have seen historically is The 1014 Rugby channel. They do seem to have disappeared however ?

I confess I am a fan of his quirkiness, I think he can do serious analysis with a nice touch of not taking himself too seriously. A pleasant antidote to stuffed shirts. Other peoples' mileage may differ of course. De gustibus non est disputandum and all that.

[ABClub]

The BBC coverage has been dated for years and keeps slipping. Guscott, Inverdale and Nicol give the impression they've been woken up from cryogenic freezing a day before each 6 Nations for all the up to date analysis or insight they offer. Jiffy is woefully biased but he does still avidly follow every aspect of regional rugby in Wales so his views of Welsh rugby whilst not approaching impartial are informed, which is better than Guscott. Wood and Castaignade have been solid pundits to be fair.

Butler and Moore are an occasionally entertaining double act but like most comedic double acts they had a shelf life where it got tedious.

The ITV coverage is slightly better due to having more pundits with a knowledge of the modern game but they still wheel out a few guys who just go through the motions. Woodward is painful to listen to these day.

I thought the difference between O'Connell and Johnnos input in the studio during the France vs Ireland game summed it up. Johnno is a Tigers legend and as a lock myself he was my hero growing up. He openly admits that he's done with modern rugby after his coaching stint though so it's pretty obvious he only goes through the motions of punditry for a quick quid. O'Connell on the other hand has a great knowledge of the modern game, clearly still a burning passion for rugby and speaks as such.

[JP14]

I have personally felt that Martin Johnson has done a great job at punditry and is a sensible rugby analyst.

[Hot_Charlie]

The good news is Amazon have apparently given gigs to some of the newer commentators, such as Jamie Lyall and Nick Heath.

[TigerFeetSteve]

The good news is Amazon have apparently given gigs to some of the newer commentators, such as Jamie Lyall and Nick Heath.

I'm quite excited to see how Amazon do on this front, think if they do well they'll be well placed to get more rugby coverage going forward. Given I don't have BT but I do have Prime I certainly wouldn't be adverse to this...

[AdrianC]

Listening to the current crop waffle and drone on and on with negativity I just miss Bill McLaren.

[Tigerbeat]

https://www.rugbyworld.com/autumn-natio ... 9fc1f3ac2f