Brian O'Driscoll joins BT Sport team

Just seen an advert for BT Sports with BOD. Says he'll be part of Rugby Tonight and the European coverage. Any Irish brethren able to shed light on whether they think he'll be any good?

Edit: just realised this is old news

Good addition. BT Sport have the best presenters by a distance and BOB should be another good addition. BOD should take to the banter well.

I was hoping they'd announce Chuter as well but never mind.

He'd be better off at RTE with Pope and co, now thats proper banter, not like your Sky, BT, BBC generic pap!

He'll just say things about rugby. There are only two categories really, pundits who know what they're talking about and pundits who don't and BOD will be the first type. He'll be ok.

Notch wrote:He'll just say things about rugby. There are only two categories really, pundits who know what they're talking about and pundits who don't and BOD will be the  first type. He'll be ok.

There's a 3rd category though; watch it live and be there. Never have I seen a well known pundit stating the bleeding on the terraces. A 4th too; the mute button.

Neutralee wrote:He'd be better off at RTE with Pope and co, now thats proper banter, not like your Sky, BT, BBC generic pap!

If you think BT is similar to Sky and BBC then you've not watched their coverage. There's a reason AP fans celebrated them out bidding Sky for the coverage.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

Neutralee wrote:He'd be better off at RTE with Pope and co, now thats proper banter, not like your Sky, BT, BBC generic pap!

If you think BT is similar to Sky and BBC then you've not watched their coverage. There's a reason AP fans celebrated them out bidding Sky for the coverage.

Damn skippy

I guess BOD will be end up visiting some of our Welsh grounds. There's a novelty.

Cardiff Dave wrote:I guess BOD will be end up visiting some of our Welsh grounds. There's a novelty.

Not if they only bring him in for the knock-out rounds and big games   

I read an interview with BOD in the Irish Indo (online version) a few days ago.

He came across as very measured in the approach he will take. Also very honest,  in that he wouldn't be provoked into making adverse comments about former playing colleagues.

Yup, a good addition to what is already an excellent team of commentators and pundits.

BT is better - Healy, Dallaglio (when he's not promoting Wasps players) and Kay are all excellent, and BOD will be a shrewd addition.

Then there's the lovely Sarra Elgan.....

The weak link is Craig Doyle. He's an idiot.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

Neutralee wrote:He'd be better off at RTE with Pope and co, now thats proper banter, not like your Sky, BT, BBC generic pap!

If you think BT is similar to Sky and BBC then you've not watched their coverage. There's a reason AP fans celebrated them out bidding Sky for the coverage.

maybe I only saw early versions, I watched a game last year and it was boring, however there is a little twitter pic doing the rounds now,

https://twitter.com/IamAustinHealey/status/489386743368798209

Seems like they have a giggle now...

The 'host' is always an idiot. BT coverage is signifiacntly better than Sky's IMO. Mostly it's a personality but also attitude. Dallaglio is good for everything other than Wasps games. Dawson is irritating. Kay and Healey are the best pairing for me for live in game (along with whatever commentator is available).

I watched some Sky stuff at the tail end of the European season last year and it almost made me want to cry.

NB It's not a BT thing as it's basically the ESPN team from before that was good. One thing I've never watched is weekly programme on BT (although I rarely caught Rugby Club on sky). Part of that was because I didn't have Sky+ so could record it and kept forgetting.

Dallaglio, Dawson, Kay and Healey...

You can see why this isn't appealing to Scottish, Welsh and Irish fans can't you

To be clear, currently they only broadcast the English premiership, and they have an Irish host and Welsh main interviewer. Brian O'Driscoll is joining for the European Coverage (obviously) and since they're upping it from 3 games a week to 5+ games a week I can see the team expanding a bit more. Hopefully it'll have an Welshman and Scotsman to fill those quotas. Oh and Dallaglio nearly played for Ireland and Italy.

Personally I look at things based on quality rather than nationality but I understand that some can be smallminded (not that I would lump Scottish, Welsh and Irish fans into this camp like you did).

EDIT:

Neutralee wrote:Dallaglio, Dawson, Kay and Healey...

You can see why this isn't appealing to Scottish, Welsh and Irish fans can't you

I'd actually disagree - I have no issue with the nationality of a commentator or an analyst provided they have something sensible to say. Andy Nicol is beyond useless as a pundit, and I say that despite having the utmost respect for his rugby abilities as a Scotland international. I'd take Healey or Greenwood ahead of him any day of the week, and regardless of whoever is playing.

I enjoy non-Scots pundits commenting on Scottish rugby - they often bring a far better insight than Scots pundits who have often made their own minds up about players. Chris Paterson is ok (although hardly gripping in his delivery) and I like Mike Blair's articles on the Beeb. Scott Hastings is probably the best behind the microphone as a co-commentator, and Andrew Cotter is useful.

Still, in the same way that Lynagh and Fitzpatrick have really added an extra dimension to Sky, I quite like non-Scots offering views on Scottish rugby.

HOT

It was a tongue in cheek comment, but having listened to Welsh and Scottish friends whinge about BBC comentary during Commonwealth games it's what popped into my head.

Bringing BOD on board has to be a good thing, you'd think if BT wanted to look for a wider audience at least a Welsh, Scottish, and possibly French and Italian guys would be brought on board too.

I couldn't imagine a scenario where there was no Scottish or Welsh TV representation for a european tournament.

Best pundit not to be a pundit is David Wallace - only pundit who got the call on the infamous warburton tackle right immediately and wasn't afraid to say it straight up and explain clearly as to what was wrong with the tackle.

He knows his stuff. Meanwhile, Dallaligo & Co were waffling away to their heart's content.

Sin

Did he also explain why tackles of similar nature and some decidedly worse were not penalised to the save extent in the same world cup.

I personally think the tackle was a red card, but the decision to give the red card was very out of sync with every other ref who decided yellowing for that offence was fine.

Notch wrote:

Cardiff Dave wrote:I guess BOD will be end up visiting some of our Welsh grounds. There's a novelty.

Not if they only bring him in for the knock-out rounds and big games   

Cruel.

Neutralee wrote:Sin

Did he also explain why tackles of similar nature and some decidedly worse were not penalised to the save extent in the same world cup.

I personally think the tackle was a red card, but the decision to give the red card was very out of sync with every other ref who decided yellowing for that offence was fine.

No, he didn't. He analysed what he was looking at at the time and from what he understood to be the laws of the game*. No doubt if he was analysing the ones that got yellow cards, he would probably have said they were Red Cards (bearing in mind, everyone else was saying that Warburton should have got a yellow).

*I seem to recall that all teams had sessions with referees prior to the world cup which Wally would have been involved in as he was in the Ireland squad until he got injured playing against England.

A safe choice. You'd hope healy and kay can get a bit of banter out of BOD but he is just after retiring and it will be interesting to see if he is critical of specific players. I can see him toe the line a lot of the time. He stepped into the sky punditry box when he was injured in HCup, never really criticised specific players but he would point out mismatches developing 2-3 phases out and was far more aware of dummy lines and strike running (which you'd expect). If he brings any of that away from the ball 'unseen work' to the fore in the analysis it might make it interesting.

Would have been better banter if they went for a left-field choice like Trev Brennan to sit in on away games in France. Put a handful of pints into him before kick-off and sit back to some seriously honest commentary.

Hang on - he viewed what was in front of him and considered the evidence in light of the actual laws of the game (which he knew)??! Ludicrous. He'll never make it as a pundit on TV. Next you'll be telling me that he actually researches the players he's preparing to watch.

Jeremy Guscott will be rolling around laughing at the thought of all that work.

funnyExiledScot wrote:BT is better - Healy, Dallaglio (when he's not promoting Wasps players) and Kay are all excellent, and BOD will be a shrewd addition.

Then there's the lovely Sarra Elgan.....
The weak link is Craig Doyle. He's an idiot.

You're joking aren't you? If that daft Welsh tart's hair gets any bigger, she'll look like Cousin It.

Neutralee wrote:HOT

It was a tongue in cheek comment, but having listened to Welsh and Scottish friends whinge about BBC comentary during Commonwealth games it's what popped into my head.

Bringing BOD on board has to be a good thing, you'd think if BT wanted to look for a wider audience at least a Welsh, Scottish, and possibly French and Italian guys would be brought on board too.

I couldn't imagine a scenario where there was no Scottish or Welsh TV representation for a european tournament.

I could, it would mirror Welsh and Scottish involvement in the competition, you know, now they have to qualify properly and all that...

Ah... Glasgow aren't too bad I spose...

Jimpy wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:BT is better - Healy, Dallaglio (when he's not promoting Wasps players) and Kay are all excellent, and BOD will be a shrewd addition.

Then there's the lovely Sarra Elgan.....
The weak link is Craig Doyle. He's an idiot.

You're joking aren't you? If that daft Welsh tart's hair gets any bigger, she'll look like Cousin It.

I definitely would.

funnyExiledScot wrote:

Jimpy wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:BT is better - Healy, Dallaglio (when he's not promoting Wasps players) and Kay are all excellent, and BOD will be a shrewd addition.

Then there's the lovely Sarra Elgan.....
The weak link is Craig Doyle. He's an idiot.

You're joking aren't you? If that daft Welsh tart's hair gets any bigger, she'll look like Cousin It.

I definitely would.

I suppose i might out of sympathy for the poor girl.

funnyExiledScot wrote:

Jimpy wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:BT is better - Healy, Dallaglio (when he's not promoting Wasps players) and Kay are all excellent, and BOD will be a shrewd addition.

Then there's the lovely Sarra Elgan.....
The weak link is Craig Doyle. He's an idiot.

You're joking aren't you? If that daft Welsh tart's hair gets any bigger, she'll look like Cousin It.

I definitely would.

I'm never sure whether she's a well-preserved 50 year-old or a rather battered-looking lass in her 30s. She's a bit too orange for my taste.

Agree about Craig Doyle. He should stick to double-glazing ads.

Cyril wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

Jimpy wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:BT is better - Healy, Dallaglio (when he's not promoting Wasps players) and Kay are all excellent, and BOD will be a shrewd addition.

Then there's the lovely Sarra Elgan.....
The weak link is Craig Doyle. He's an idiot.

You're joking aren't you? If that daft Welsh tart's hair gets any bigger, she'll look like Cousin It.

I definitely would.

I'm never sure whether she's a well-preserved 50 year-old or a rather battered-looking lass in her 30s. She's a bit too orange for my taste.

Agree about Craig Doyle. He should stick to double-glazing ads.

Leaving aside the issue of judging a woman solely on her looks......

I'd wager she is at least 3 times as good looking as any woman that would let either of you within a mile of her.   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk_ly3729sQ

St John The Enforcer wrote:

Cyril wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

Jimpy wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:BT is better - Healy, Dallaglio (when he's not promoting Wasps players) and Kay are all excellent, and BOD will be a shrewd addition.

Then there's the lovely Sarra Elgan.....
The weak link is Craig Doyle. He's an idiot.

You're joking aren't you? If that daft Welsh tart's hair gets any bigger, she'll look like Cousin It.

I definitely would.

I'm never sure whether she's a well-preserved 50 year-old or a rather battered-looking lass in her 30s. She's a bit too orange for my taste.

Agree about Craig Doyle. He should stick to double-glazing ads.

Leaving aside the issue of judging a woman solely on her looks......

I'd wager she is at least 3 times as good looking as any woman that would let either of you within a mile of her.   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk_ly3729sQ

Yes, that's an interesting metric, based on an empirical scale of looks and a measurable understanding of what the female population of the world consider to be their priorities when choosing a potential mate I presume? i'll wager what you've said is at least 3 times more stupid than what we said, based on the fact that we weren't judging the woman on her looks, merely commenting on them.

  

St John The Enforcer wrote:

Cyril wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

Jimpy wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:BT is better - Healy, Dallaglio (when he's not promoting Wasps players) and Kay are all excellent, and BOD will be a shrewd addition.

Then there's the lovely Sarra Elgan.....
The weak link is Craig Doyle. He's an idiot.

You're joking aren't you? If that daft Welsh tart's hair gets any bigger, she'll look like Cousin It.

I definitely would.

I'm never sure whether she's a well-preserved 50 year-old or a rather battered-looking lass in her 30s. She's a bit too orange for my taste.

Agree about Craig Doyle. He should stick to double-glazing ads.

Leaving aside the issue of judging a woman solely on her looks......

I'd wager she is at least 3 times as good looking as any woman that would let either of you within a mile of her.   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk_ly3729sQ

I'm not judging her on her looks. I'm just saying what I think she looks like (Barbie's mum)

Cyril wrote:

St John The Enforcer wrote:

Cyril wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

Jimpy wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:BT is better - Healy, Dallaglio (when he's not promoting Wasps players) and Kay are all excellent, and BOD will be a shrewd addition.

Then there's the lovely Sarra Elgan.....
The weak link is Craig Doyle. He's an idiot.

You're joking aren't you? If that daft Welsh tart's hair gets any bigger, she'll look like Cousin It.

I definitely would.

I'm never sure whether she's a well-preserved 50 year-old or a rather battered-looking lass in her 30s. She's a bit too orange for my taste.

Agree about Craig Doyle. He should stick to double-glazing ads.

Leaving aside the issue of judging a woman solely on her looks......

I'd wager she is at least 3 times as good looking as any woman that would let either of you within a mile of her.   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk_ly3729sQ

I'm not judging her on her looks. I'm just saying what I think she looks like (Barbie's mum)

And a liaison with Cousin It.

Ha. I struck a chord there eh lads?

I reckon Jimpy is the Dawn French character and Cyril is the Jennifer Saunders one.

St John The Enforcer wrote:Ha. I struck a chord there eh lads?
I reckon Jimpy is the Dawn French character and Cyril is the Jennifer Saunders one.

 
Not really, I think we were just pointing out how thick you appear to be.

There you go see, look just how easy it was to judge someone's character based on a forum post, thought i'd return the favour.

  

Jimpy wrote:

St John The Enforcer wrote:Ha. I struck a chord there eh lads?
I reckon Jimpy is the Dawn French character and Cyril is the Jennifer Saunders one.

 
Not really, I think we were just pointing out how thick you appear to be.

There you go see, look just how easy it was to judge someone's character based on a forum post, thought i'd return the favour.

  

Keep squirming. It's entertaining.

Well, this took a weird turn.

She's still fit.

Fock yeah. and after a couple of kids and having to shag Simon Easterby that's some achievement.

I hope you're not judging her on her looks, chaps. Shocking!

We were leaving that aside. Remember.......

Hound of Harrow wrote:I read an interview with BOD in the Irish Indo (online version) a few days ago.

He came across as very measured in the approach he will take. Also very honest,  in that he wouldn't be provoked into making adverse comments about former playing colleagues.

Yup, a good addition to what is already an excellent team of commentators and pundits.

Didn't see any interview with BOD about his BT gig but is he really saying he isn't going to criticise any player he played with before - even if he's having a total nightmare. If that's the case then it's going to be pretty bland stuff and match pundit - BOD or whoever - should be calling the game as he sees it no matter if he puts a former team mate's nose put of joint. It's called objectivity. Otherwise we'll end up with the blander than bland punditry we get from former soccer internationals on BBC, ITV and Sky - this disease has become known as Sheareritis.

Not suggesting that BOD or any other recent retiree should be laying into former team mates for the sake of it, but if Leinster are having a sh1te game and Kearney/Darcy/Heaslip/SOB etc are having a sh1te game, then I don't want BOD glossing over the fact just because he played with them

I'd say he will be in the style of Conor O'Shea or Brent Pope who can manage to be critical of a player's/team's performance/errors they made without ripping them to bits which is what George Hook dose.

brennomac wrote:

Hound of Harrow wrote:I read an interview with BOD in the Irish Indo (online version) a few days ago.

He came across as very measured in the approach he will take. Also very honest,  in that he wouldn't be provoked into making adverse comments about former playing colleagues.

Yup, a good addition to what is already an excellent team of commentators and pundits.

Didn't see any interview with BOD about his BT gig but is he really saying he isn't going to criticise any player he played with before - even if he's having a total nightmare.  If that's the case then it's going to be pretty bland stuff and match pundit - BOD or whoever - should be calling the game as he sees it no matter if he puts a former team mate's nose put of joint.  It's called objectivity.  Otherwise we'll end up with the blander than bland punditry we get from former soccer internationals on BBC, ITV and Sky - this disease has become known as Sheareritis.

Not suggesting that BOD or any other recent retiree should be laying into former team mates for the sake of it, but if Leinster are having a sh1te game and Kearney/Darcy/Heaslip/SOB etc are having a sh1te game, then I don't want BOD glossing over the fact just because he played with them

Could be that he doesn't want to get provoked into referring back into previous history (ie. having a go at a player because of any previous instances between him and them) and just wants to talk about the performance in the game.

funnyExiledScot wrote:BT is better - Healy, Dallaglio (when he's not promoting Wasps players) and Kay are all excellent, and BOD will be a shrewd addition.

Then there's the lovely Sarra Elgan.....

The weak link is Craig Doyle. He's an idiot.

Agree with most of that though can't say I am massive fan of Sarra Elgan.

If we are going to have a Welsh presenter I would prefer Alex Jones from the One Show or perhaps an actress like Kimberley Nixon or Alexandra Roach.

beshocked wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:BT is better - Healy, Dallaglio (when he's not promoting Wasps players) and Kay are all excellent, and BOD will be a shrewd addition.

Then there's the lovely Sarra Elgan.....

The weak link is Craig Doyle. He's an idiot.

Agree with most of that though can't say I am massive fan of Sarra Elgan.

If we are going to have a Welsh presenter I would prefer Alex Jones from the One Show or perhaps an actress like Kimberley Nixon or Alexandra Roach.

Why can't we just have somebody who appears to know what the f**k it is they're supposed to be talking about, regardless of their nationality, or orange tanned, inflatable daffodil waving leaning...

Well you could have someone who knows what they are talking about but is as boring as a rock. Not sure I want that.

Knowledge doesn't necessarily convert into charm or personality. Presentation is important for a presenter/pundit in my opinion.

Also in Sarra Elgan's role she isn't really expected to be that knowledgeable. That's more for the rugby players themselves.

You could argue that the main presenter's job isnt to have expert knowledge at all. But they do need to be able to manage and ask sensible questions of the experts.

beshocked wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:BT is better - Healy, Dallaglio (when he's not promoting Wasps players) and Kay are all excellent, and BOD will be a shrewd addition.

Then there's the lovely Sarra Elgan.....

The weak link is Craig Doyle. He's an idiot.

Agree with most of that though can't say I am massive fan of Sarra Elgan.

If we are going to have a Welsh presenter I would prefer Alex Jones from the One Show or perhaps an actress like Kimberley Nixon or Alexandra Roach.

I wasn't suggesting exclusivity. I could find time for both......(says the married man, slightly scared that his wife may actually check what he posts one of these days.....)   

BOD is involved in a Sports Management Company (Ikon). Some of his clients are Jamie Heaslip and Cian Healy. Think Johne Murphy is with them as well.