Connacht Vs Leinster 19.35 Sat 26th March

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Infuriating to hear Cahill just totally lose interest in the game itself as it went on and try to discuss the state of the game instead, particularly when Flannery is such a good co comm who can be so insightful as to what’s happening. It’s as if he thought he was doing a radio show and only had to check in occasionally with what was actually happening on the pitch.

On a positive note, Jacqui Hurley is excellent, she’s a massive improvement on DOB and now I’m wondering why it took her so long to get this gig.

[the spoofer]

Infuriating to hear Cahill just totally lose interest in the game itself as it went on and try to discuss the state of the game instead, particularly when Flannery is such a good co comm who can be so insightful as to what’s happening. It’s as if he thought he was doing a radio show and only had to check in occasionally with what was actually happening on the pitch.

On a positive note, Jacqui Hurley is excellent, she’s a massive improvement on DOB and now I’m wondering why it took her so long to get this gig.

His interest would have remained if Leinster were on the losing side.

[Hippo]

But I think most rugby viewers don't understand that a Tony Romo can enhance your appreciation and understanding of the game you are watching. So they don't expect it or recognise it when it happens.

Romo is a fantastic example of a commentator genuinely improving the experience for the viewer, but he operates at an exceptional level. Flannery is generally very good (although I was bemused when he joined in the general bigging-up of LMcG last night). Cahill may be a nice guy but he's a woeful, intrusive commentator, almost as irritating as Robson. I've a lot of time for Andrew Cotter on BBC - never biased, calls the action accurately and knows when to shut up.

PS I'm old enough to remember the 'golden age' and beyond, and both Fred Cogley and Jim Sherwin never had much of a clue about what was going on!

[Dexter]

Read the thread before watching the game and am honestly baffled by the criticism of Luke. I know I always defend him, no personal connection at all I just always pay attention to guys who are criticised, and thought he’d a good game. I counted two loopy passes to Hawkshaw (one of which he scored from) and the kick on the full but that’s it in terms of big errors. He went the wrong way when he passed to ROL who then got tackled into touch but really nothing else to get exercised about. There were other times he got caught but two were due to penalty offences and another was when Dowling knocked it on so to my mind don’t really count. I feel like I’m watching a different game at times but hey ho I’m sure others feel the same reading this. His defence was excellent as usual (including one brilliant tackle on Heffernan after an overthrow), he secured rucks better than most of the forwards, his passing was good aside from the ones I’ve mentioned, and he scored a brilliant try. And to illustrate that I’m not a fanboi, I fully admit he’s been in poor form in recent months and JGP’s Ireland performances (although overrated and a step down from November IMO) mean the jersey should be his to lose over the next while.

I thought the forwards were poor in general. A couple of carries by Max in the first half and then Rhys in the second but otherwise most were anonymous. The set piece was poor and the breakdown was a mess. They were better in the last quarter when they ran hard close to the breakdown and then sent two guys in to secure the ball. The space opened up then after a couple of phases.

Penny had a nightmare in the first 60 minutes or so but actually finished very strongly then. He seemed to focus more on just securing the ball and carrying close in which worked well, and his defence was really solid as well.

Some very classy performances in the backs, I thought Frawley, Osborne, and JOB (aside from the kick on the full) were all excellent. Osborne really seems to be getting more involved in attack now which is great to see. Hawkshaw had some lovely touches and took his try really well. TOB was quiet in the first half, maybe he was reluctant to get involved after the yellow, but had a great second half and would have had a hat trick if Cosgrave passed.

There’s a lot to improve on but if we just nail down the set piece then Connacht shouldn’t have any entry into the CC games.

I think people (me anyway) are always a lot harsher watching the game live, on players, refs etc.
I've often rewached a game and thought I was way too critical at the time and the performance was actually a lot better than credited at the time. Sometimes we have the impossible expectation of perfection.

[Hippo]

On a positive note, Jacqui Hurley is excellent, she’s a massive improvement on DOB and now I’m wondering why it took her so long to get this gig.

She is, and the contrast with DOB was just as noticeable when Joanne Cantwell took the reins for a while. He was stealing a living.

[the spoofer]

On a positive note, Jacqui Hurley is excellent, she’s a massive improvement on DOB and now I’m wondering why it took her so long to get this gig.

She is, and the contrast with DOB was just as noticeable when Joanne Cantwell took the reins for a while. He was stealing a living.

Cantwell should drop the t cause she certainly can. My favourite Irish sports presenter. So professional and informed.

[ronk]

But I think most rugby viewers don't understand that a Tony Romo can enhance your appreciation and understanding of the game you are watching. So they don't expect it or recognise it when it happens.

Romo is a fantastic example of a commentator genuinely improving the experience for the viewer, but he operates at an exceptional level. Flannery is generally very good (although I was bemused when he joined in the general bigging-up of LMcG last night). Cahill may be a nice guy but he's a woeful, intrusive commentator, almost as irritating as Robson. I've a lot of time for Andrew Cotter on BBC - never biased, calls the action accurately and knows when to shut up.

PS I'm old enough to remember the 'golden age' and beyond, and both Fred Cogley and Jim Sherwin never had much of a clue about what was going on!

The $25m a year he earns seems fair. I have friends who pick whichever game he's commentating and watch that recording first.

But American Football has the history and understanding of John Madden. I don't think rugby organisers could conceive of the same thing, RTE's attempt to do an equivalent was George Hook. A rugby Romo mightn't even get a job. The bigger the game the more the blowhards get brought out.

[hugonaut]

Infuriating to hear Cahill just totally lose interest in the game itself as it went on and try to discuss the state of the game instead, particularly when Flannery is such a good co comm who can be so insightful as to what’s happening. It’s as if he thought he was doing a radio show and only had to check in occasionally with what was actually happening on the pitch.

On a positive note, Jacqui Hurley is excellent, she’s a massive improvement on DOB and now I’m wondering why it took her so long to get this gig.

Flannery is very good – he's either a natural as a broadcaster or he has worked to appear natural. He speaks in coherent sentences, he finishes statements emphatically and he sticks to the topic. He's obviously very, very familiar with what players and coaches are trying to do on the pitch, so he has authority, but he is also interested ... he wants to explain things.

[Experimental]

Outstanding second half, but the first half set piece worries me a lot for when we meet bigger packs, McBride work to do, but he honestly cant take resposibility for flankers standing off scrums etc. Osbourne for me was MOTM, centers were brilliant. Dont believe McGrath has been hard done by with Ireland even tho I do think he offers more than Casey. If I was Andy Farrell Id be taking a really close look at young Matt Devine, he looks a proper talent.

[riocard911]

Instead of complaining about RTE, subscribe to Premier Sports - excellent commentary from Ryle and Berch. You get what you pay for.

I wasn't complaining about Teilifís Éireann per se, as I'm getting my footage via my subscription to URC.tv. Good suggestion though. I'll write an email to them and request, that they switch to the Premier Sports feed/commentary.

[riocard911]

Hugh Cahill drove be bonkers describing every Connacht offload, even if it didn't go to hand as "brilliant".

Maybe it's just me, but since the Saffer teams have joined our league, I've been impressed with and enjoy the South African TV commentary. Dunno what the guys names are, but they seem to be the same fellas do the URC and the Rugby Championship and they're always very knowledgeable, enthusiastic and fair in the sense of not just bigging up the Boks or the RSA clubs teams. At this stage I'd rather listen to them than any of the Scottish, Welsh and most of the Irish commentators.

The South African guys are very polished and professional. Hugh Bladen set a very high standard for rugby broadcasting in South Africa over his long career and it seems to me that that's the direction that they've followed and the standard that they are continually trying to meet.

Obviously rugby is a very big sport in SA and has been for years, and their broadcasts have always been well-resourced [financially] and gone out to a big audience. I find lots of parallels between their broadcasts and NFL broadcasts: a play-by-play commentator with a 'golden voice' who is a professional broadcaster and who leads the commentary, and a very polished, highly-regarded ex-pro as colour commentator. Typically there is a third broadcaster with a clearly discernible different voice on the sideline who is used for variety.

The two main commentators treat the game respectfully and neutrally – they don't favour either team, they're big on the values of the game, they don't spend a lot of time talking about the referee, they don't make a lot of jokes, and they don't go off on uneven jags, with one of them speaking for long, uninterrupted periods on a pet topic. Their focus is on the match in front of them, not the overall state of rugby.

The English version that came in with BT is far too chummy and matey for my tastes, but they've got very good play-by-play commentators. Some of their colour guys are excellent as well, and really shine when removed from the matey-chummy environment ... Ben Kay, Jim Hamilton and David Flatman are all excellent when the banter level is reduced to occasional.

I don't share the same level of opprobrium about Hugh Cahill on a personal level as many others on the board [he's a nice guy] but I think his general commentary style is pretty terrible – far too opinionated, too loose and too banter-y and practically unprofessional. When he commentated on the women's internationals at the end of last year he was far better, because he was very obviously concentrating on not saying something loose that somebody would get offended by [or choose to get offended by].

On a complete tangent but I’m lucky to be old enough to remember the golden age of sports commentary: Murray Walker, Bill McLaren, Micheal O’Muircheathaig, Peter Aliss and even our own beloved Fred Cogley!

I can remember those days well too. Fred was great, Bill McLaren too. Nigel Starmer Smith drove me mad though. Before he got the gig at the BBC a kick outside the 22 into touch without hitting grass beforehand was always just referred as having being kicked "straight out". He was the one started this "out on the full" nonsense and then the rest of them followed them suit.

I even remember staying up with the Daddyman to watch the Rumble in the Jungle in '74, when in the eight round Murray Walker stated Ali was out on feet i.e. a goner, and the next second The Louisville Lip came off the ropes and with a flurry off punches sent Foreman to the floor! Poor Murray never lived that one down, according to himself!!

[ustix]

Infuriating to hear Cahill just totally lose interest in the game itself as it went on and try to discuss the state of the game instead, particularly when Flannery is such a good co comm who can be so insightful as to what’s happening. It’s as if he thought he was doing a radio show and only had to check in occasionally with what was actually happening on the pitch.

On a positive note, Jacqui Hurley is excellent, she’s a massive improvement on DOB and now I’m wondering why it took her so long to get this gig.

Flannery is very good – he's either a natural as a broadcaster or he has worked to appear natural. He speaks in coherent sentences, he finishes statements emphatically and he sticks to the topic. He's obviously very, very familiar with what players and coaches are trying to do on the pitch, so he has authority, but he is also interested ... he wants to explain things.

He even manages to appear focused when his colleague is clearly waffling.

[ronk]

That’s sorta the problem. Murray Walker was obviously a great commentator and made F1 more watchable, but part of the fun was the way Martin Brundle would keep correcting him.

Too many commentators (& their producers & viewers) are trying to recreate the sideshow when what’s really needed is the main event.

[D4surfer]

.

[D4surfer]

I even remember staying up with the Daddyman to watch the Rumble in the Jungle in '74, when in the eight round Murray Walker stated Ali was out on feet i.e. a goner, and the next second The Louisville Lip came off the ropes and with a flurry off punches sent Foreman to the floor! Poor Murray never lived that one down, according to himself!!

Surely that was Harry Carpenter.

[TMC]

But I think most rugby viewers don't understand that a Tony Romo can enhance your appreciation and understanding of the game you are watching. So they don't expect it or recognise it when it happens.

PS I'm old enough to remember the 'golden age' and beyond, and both Fred Cogley and Jim Sherwin never had much of a clue about what was going on!

Unfounded and harsh. Both good commentators IMO.
Used to love listening to JS in particular struggle to be impartial back in the day when RTE screened live D1 AIL games and they had him on the mic for the games his son played in.

[riocard911]

I even remember staying up with the Daddyman to watch the Rumble in the Jungle in '74, when in the eight round Murray Walker stated Ali was out on feet i.e. a goner, and the next second The Louisville Lip came off the ropes and with a flurry off punches sent Foreman to the floor! Poor Murray never lived that one down, according to himself!!

Surely that was Harry Carpenter.

I'm the eejit! Got them mixed up. Murray was the F1 guy. Thanks for the correction.

[JohnB]

Who was it who said that Murray Walker's commentary style made him sound as though his underpants were on fire? I was fond of listening to Philip Greene's radio commentaries on soccer matches. He had a unique style all his own. I remember him saying after a player was effectively assaulted in a tackle that "he carries his leg back up the field". He gifted the listener such vivid mental images!

[Theleinsterlad]

Read the thread before watching the game and am honestly baffled by the criticism of Luke. I know I always defend him, no personal connection at all I just always pay attention to guys who are criticised, and thought he’d a good game. I counted two loopy passes to Hawkshaw (one of which he scored from) and the kick on the full but that’s it in terms of big errors. He went the wrong way when he passed to ROL who then got tackled into touch but really nothing else to get exercised about. There were other times he got caught but two were due to penalty offences and another was when Dowling knocked it on so to my mind don’t really count. I feel like I’m watching a different game at times but hey ho I’m sure others feel the same reading this. His defence was excellent as usual (including one brilliant tackle on Heffernan after an overthrow), he secured rucks better than most of the forwards, his passing was good aside from the ones I’ve mentioned, and he scored a brilliant try. And to illustrate that I’m not a fanboi, I fully admit he’s been in poor form in recent months and JGP’s Ireland performances (although overrated and a step down from November IMO) mean the jersey should be his to lose over the next while.

I thought the forwards were poor in general. A couple of carries by Max in the first half and then Rhys in the second but otherwise most were anonymous. The set piece was poor and the breakdown was a mess. They were better in the last quarter when they ran hard close to the breakdown and then sent two guys in to secure the ball. The space opened up then after a couple of phases.

Penny had a nightmare in the first 60 minutes or so but actually finished very strongly then. He seemed to focus more on just securing the ball and carrying close in which worked well, and his defence was really solid as well.

Some very classy performances in the backs, I thought Frawley, Osborne, and JOB (aside from the kick on the full) were all excellent. Osborne really seems to be getting more involved in attack now which is great to see. Hawkshaw had some lovely touches and took his try really well. TOB was quiet in the first half, maybe he was reluctant to get involved after the yellow, but had a great second half and would have had a hat trick if Cosgrave passed.

There’s a lot to improve on but if we just nail down the set piece then Connacht shouldn’t have any entry into the CC games.

Dude I normally agree with things you say on here but with regard to Luke and in particular this last season he has been very poor. It’s not only his mistakes and speed of passing that annoys most, it’s his lack of speed at the breakdown in getting the ball away or reading when our scrum is under pressure and waiting a second or two more that at this level is minutes that suddenly lose us the ball. I actually have liked the way Luke and JGP have pushed each other over the last few years and it has resulted in luke upping his game, but this season he is just not doing it - it looks like there is a switch inside that has just gone off saying I ain’t going to make Ireland again

[Blue Man]

Read the thread before watching the game and am honestly baffled by the criticism of Luke. I know I always defend him, no personal connection at all I just always pay attention to guys who are criticised, and thought he’d a good game. I counted two loopy passes to Hawkshaw (one of which he scored from) and the kick on the full but that’s it in terms of big errors. He went the wrong way when he passed to ROL who then got tackled into touch but really nothing else to get exercised about. There were other times he got caught but two were due to penalty offences and another was when Dowling knocked it on so to my mind don’t really count. I feel like I’m watching a different game at times but hey ho I’m sure others feel the same reading this. His defence was excellent as usual (including one brilliant tackle on Heffernan after an overthrow), he secured rucks better than most of the forwards, his passing was good aside from the ones I’ve mentioned, and he scored a brilliant try. And to illustrate that I’m not a fanboi, I fully admit he’s been in poor form in recent months and JGP’s Ireland performances (although overrated and a step down from November IMO) mean the jersey should be his to lose over the next while.

I thought the forwards were poor in general. A couple of carries by Max in the first half and then Rhys in the second but otherwise most were anonymous. The set piece was poor and the breakdown was a mess. They were better in the last quarter when they ran hard close to the breakdown and then sent two guys in to secure the ball. The space opened up then after a couple of phases.

Penny had a nightmare in the first 60 minutes or so but actually finished very strongly then. He seemed to focus more on just securing the ball and carrying close in which worked well, and his defence was really solid as well.

Some very classy performances in the backs, I thought Frawley, Osborne, and JOB (aside from the kick on the full) were all excellent. Osborne really seems to be getting more involved in attack now which is great to see. Hawkshaw had some lovely touches and took his try really well. TOB was quiet in the first half, maybe he was reluctant to get involved after the yellow, but had a great second half and would have had a hat trick if Cosgrave passed.

There’s a lot to improve on but if we just nail down the set piece then Connacht shouldn’t have any entry into the CC games.

Dude I normally agree with things you say on here but with regard to Luke and in particular this last season he has been very poor. It’s not only his mistakes and speed of passing that annoys most, it’s his lack of speed at the breakdown in getting the ball away or reading when our scrum is under pressure and waiting a second or two more that at this level is minutes that suddenly lose us the ball. I actually have liked the way Luke and JGP have pushed each other over the last few years and it has resulted in luke upping his game, but this season he is just not doing it - it looks like there is a switch inside that has just gone off saying I ain’t going to make Ireland again

+1