The latest edition of the Guinness Men’s Six Nations has drawn to a close, with Ireland storming to their fourth ever Grand Slam. This tournament is arguably one of Rugby Union’s staple events of the year, which draws the biggest TV audiences in the Northern Hemisphere. Furthermore, the women’s iteration (the TikTok Women’s Six Nations, which kicks off this weekend) is fast becoming a force in its own right, attracting rising attendance at games (and importantly also getting loads of young people through the turnstiles as well).
The Six Nations (like the Olympics, Wimbledon, and FA Cup) is free-to-air with coverage shared between BBC and ITV Sport, an agreement which has existed since 2016 to prevent the tournament from going to a subscription-service channel like Sky Sports. This agreement was renewed in May 2021. Unlike Wimbledon or the Olympics, the Six Nations is not a ‘Category A’ competition, meaning it is not protected by law to be kept on free-to-air television, and its broadcasting rights are susceptible to purchase by companies like Sky or Amazon on the proviso that highlights/replays are kept free-to-air. Whilst I’m grateful that the Six Nations is not behind a paywall, I do find myself feeling like I am being driven to the point of madness by the dire quality of rugby punditry on offer at the moment. Not only does this apply to commentary as well, but when Rugby Union is constantly in conversation about growing the game and making it more financially sustainable, having old-timers spouting drivel in studios is not exactly going to attract new audiences in droves.
The problem is that both ITV and BBC are prioritising ‘big names’ over quality. The prime example is Sir Clive Woodward, the head coach who lead England to the Grand Slam as well as the Rugby World Cup in 2003. Especially for England games on ITV, the studio panel will always consist of him and Jonny Wilkinson, the drop-goal hero from that 2003 Rugby World Cup win in Australia. The issue with Woodward is that he is stuck in 2003, and thinks that he has enough credit from that to make grand statements about rugby tactics and the state of the game, despite not having coached at the level since the catastrophic 2005 British and Irish Lions Tour and is being platformed for those views by ITV because they think having someone whose name an average sports watcher in the pub might have a vague recollection of is better than someone who actually understands the state of the game in 2023.
Another problem that ITV particularly has is that it merely copy and pastes the pundits and commentators from BT Sport. Nick Mullins is probably the finest English-language commentator in the Northern Hemisphere, but him aside, the quality of BT Sport’s team that ITV use to hire for the Six Nations is just pretty underwhelming. Like Clive Woodward, Lawrence Dallaglio, a controversial player and not even the best English No.8 during his day, has been retired for nearly two decades and is firmly stuck in that era. Dallaglio’s inspiring reason for England being behind Ireland and France in the table? That the latter two have a bigger forward pack! Not only is that reasoning meaningless, but it proves how out of touch rugby pundits and commentators are with the state of the English game and the intense complexities that surround the differences between top teams, which in the professional era are much more minute than what they used to be when Dallaglio was playing in the amateur era of pre-1995. For the BBC, you only have to look at Radio 5 Live and BBC Sport columnist Matt Dawson, another ex-player from the 2003 glory days who has long expired his credit papering over his lack of contemporary knowledge of the sport.
Whilst this is a problem that also affects the papers as well, both BBC and ITV pundits have an obsession with trying to influence England tactics, especially around fly-half Marcus Smith, who is trying to battle for the No.10 shirt alongside captain Owen Farrell and 2022 Premiership winner George Ford. I’m not going to get too much into that debate in this article, but it is a prime example of this lack of understanding. Current England Head Coach Steve Borthwick orchestrated Leicester to the League title last season by picking a certain XV suitable for a certain game plan depending on the opposition, rather than constructing an outright first choice XV. Hence, for some England games, Farrell will be at 10 or at 12 (although personally I am in the camp that believe that Smith and Farrell at 10+12 does not work and the days of a dual playmaker system at flyhalf and inside centre working are in the past), with Smith benched or at 10. Smith’s flashy hitch-kick won’t win England games, but hey neither will Farrell shouldering people and missing conversions either. TV studios need experts who understand the modern game, for example Robbie Owen (aka Squidge Rugby), who can explain kicking, or David Flatman on the scrum – people who can explain rugby’s complicated rules and tactics humorously to a general audience.
A further fundamental problem is the shocking lack of Italian representation in pundits and commentators in both BBC and ITV coverage. Italy have been a part of the Six Nations since 2000, and despite traditionally being the tournament’s whipping-boys they have improved considerably and were unlucky to be winless this year when they arguably played better rugby than fifth-placed Wales (whose only semi-decent performance was in their win against the Azzurri). This has been the first Six Nations where Italy genuinely had the chance of winning most of their games. Yet, because barely any Italian ex-players are on the rosters of either BBC or ITV, the coverage is full of bias against them, particularly as many of the ex-players who make up the commentators/pundits were of an era before Italy joined the then-Five Nations in 2000. Having more Italian representation in the studios will help build a narrative that Italy do indeed belong in the Six Nations and will help freshen up the line-up as well. Again, it doesn’t have to be a big name, like the soon-to-be-retired Sergio Parisse, but someone who knows their bread and butter and fairly represents Italy during coverage of their games.
Unfortunately, the Six Nations is taken too much for granted. From audio not being aligned with the live media feed, to weird adverts, the coverage of Rugby’s premier European championship has numerable issues to address as well as standard of punditry and commentary, but it’s about goddamn time that people start calling it out, in more than just quippy tweets like the one above. Ultimately, the Six Nations is one of the best sporting tournaments of the year. It needs to stay free-to-air, and BBC and ITV need to work their socks off in presenting a product that is appealing to diehard fans, pub-goers and those new to the Sport – to do that, working hard on considerably improving the punditry will be a good start.