Former Players as Pundits

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Why is it that broadcasters assume that great players will make great pundits?

Playing rugby doesn't require erudition, articulacy. Depending on your position, you don't even need to know that much about tactics. What, then, makes broadcasters think that former players will be just as good at dicussing and analysing the game as they were at playing it?

It's not enough to know what you're talking about; that's useless unless you can express it. And yet there are a fair few former players currently working as pundits who come out with nothing more than the most basic observations and cliches. Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't they supposed to be adding to the viewing experience, pointing out things we may have missed, explaining why a certain play worked or went wrong or why a refereeing decision went the way it did?

It's high time broadcasters selected their pundits based on the insight they provide rather than what they achieved as players.

LeinsterFan4life wrote:I think every Irishman would agree that Frankie Sheehan is the worst pundit / commentator out there.

Prefer him to Keith Wood. God he is awful.

Tend to watch Ireland games on the BBC because Philip Matthews is such a good commentator. Self appointed Ryle Nugent of RTE offers very little.

Hugh Bladen of SA is up there with the best and I'm warming to Brian Moore having previously found him really hard to stomach.

I like Dallaglio, Horgan, Greenwood, Quinlan and Brent Pope as pundits.

Australian commentators and pundits tend to be the worst.

I always thought Keith Wood was the worst until I heard Dayglo in the England/Italy match.

Who said Keith was the worst or even bad???

I thought his comments at half time during the Ireland France game were spot on, and nobody else would have had the courage to say it.

For those of you who didn't hear it, this is it in full:

"I think..............................................................."

I couldn't hear the rest of it to be honest.

Chris Paterson is one of my faves. He was a fantastic player and he is a great pundit. Honest, smart, impartial and knowlegable.

I would punt Nichol and give Mossy the 6N Scottish pundit job.

Yep, Chris Paterson has been excellent.

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:Chris Paterson is one of my faves. He was a fantastic player and he is a great pundit. Honest, smart, impartial and knowlegable.

I would punt Nichol and give Mossy the 6N Scottish pundit job.

Yeah, I like Chris..even moreso now when you actually hear him speaking - which wasn't an awful lot during his career I have to admit!!! Was a little taken aback when I heard him first do punditry. I didn't know what I expected but it just seemed to dawn on me in a striking way for some reason - he speaks - shock!

Kinda the Clint Eastwood of rugby. Say it only if you have to and say it calmly.

GunsGerms wrote:

Glas a du wrote:Yeah well Philip Mathews wasn't even a good player.

Yes he was. Ireland v Australia 1991 WC he was excellent.

I must have missed that one game

Glas a du wrote:

GunsGerms wrote:

Glas a du wrote:Yeah well Philip Mathews wasn't even a good player.

Yes he was. Ireland v Australia 1991 WC he was excellent.

I must have missed that one game

He was captain of Ireland for that match when Ireland almost beat probably the best Australian side of all time. They went on to win the WC. He captained Ireland 12 times.

He was a member of the 1985 triple crown winning side.

He has one Lions test cap.

He also appeared on a stamp in Republic of Turkmenistan.

Cant have been that bad.

I seem to remember him as a largely ineffective lanky old bloke losing badly to France, but there we go, different perspectives eh?

Glas I think you have the wrong fella

The reason I remember him is that he worked for the same company as my dad. I recall that 91 game well. The IRB changed the laws after so that if you kicked dead it was a scrum back. Before that game it was a 22 drop out.

Glas a du wrote:The reason I remember him is that he worked for the same company as my dad. I recall that 91 game well. The IRB changed the laws after so that if you kicked dead it was a scrum back. Before that game it was a 22 drop out.

AHA! The plot thickens. Looking forward to tomorrow's episode when all is revealed.

I think Glas is thinking about Stanley

Don't tell me, he was playing for Leinster when you beat them...

Get back on the alternate positions thread kwik