Craig Doyle is an accomplished TV presenter – TNT Sports
It is rugby, it is England, and it is a time of year when university students are still getting to know each other. Therefore, up and down the country on Saturday, there will have been many, many drinking games. Their rule-makers would have drawn up a list of things to look out for during England versus New Zealand. Surely every mention of the haka was worth two fingers of beer, possibly even a shot?
TNT Sports made it 10 minutes into its broadcast without covering Joe Marler’s least favourite ceremonial dance, but once the seal was broken there were 10 haka references in the opening hour. A brutal outcome for wannabe competitive drinkers, but these are the levels in elite sport.
The broadcaster faced a quandary about how to pitch this game, its first since winning the rights for the autumn internationals for the first time. England’s opponents guaranteed a certain level of general interest, but it would be a stretch to imagine this match having the same crossover appeal for rugby casuals as a plum Six Nations tie or a World Cup knockout game. So the decision was made to preach to the converted and largely stick with what works for TNT’s Premiership coverage. There were no intra-match interviews with the coaches, but the afternoon felt like rugby for rugby fans, with little pandering to those who do not know their hookers from their hakas. Drink!
Sometimes the level of assumed knowledge wobbled. Enjoyably Tiggerish presenter Craig Doyle began his afternoon shouting next to England fans waiting outside to greet the teams. At one point he explained that the Rugby Championship is the southern-hemisphere equivalent of the Six Nations. In a pitchside interview before the match David Flatman asked England prop Ellis Genge to tell us what was on his mind. “Not much,” he replied. Come on Ellis, play the game. This is the sort of gentle hand-holding you would expect for a programme designed for the newcomer.
TNT choose not to dumb down their coverage – TNT Sports
That imaginary viewer would have been confused for much of what followed, like Courtney Lawes saying England were “missing an outright jackal threat,” Austin Healey describing a tackled player as “absolutely melted” or Sam Warburton pondering at half-time whether Genge could have been holding his channel more effectively.
But there are obvious advantages to sticking with a commentary team of Alastair Eykyn, Healey and Ben Kay who are clearly at ease together. So much of covering rugby in 2024 is filling time while scrums collapse, and the trio riffed off one another enjoyably, especially when making fun of referee Angus Gardner for praising scrum-half Ben Spencer’s “good question”.
There was less fun to be had in a slightly indulgent package before the game about Eykyn’s trip to England’s training camp in Girona. No issue with an interview and golf session with centre Ollie Lawrence, but no one needed to see Eykyn reflecting on how much he likes his job, like a Celebrity Race Across the World contestant having a moment of clarity while visiting an Inca temple.
When the haka finally arrived after a level and length of hype usually reserved for Taylor Swift albums, it was dealt with impeccably. “Theatre. Emotion. Sporting rocket fuel,” said Eykyn, capturing the moment and England’s response with flair. You could detect some relief when it was finished though, and the coverage could just concentrate on the sport.
‘This was a broadcast for grown-ups’
Kay and Healey were quick and incisive to analyse how the All Blacks were exploiting space in the first half, and the particulars of England’s defensive shape. This is a pleasing pivot from the usual platitudes about guts and courage which pepper international rugby coverage. There was wise understatement at times as well, especially during the thrilling Marcus Smith interception which led to Immanuel Feyi-Waboso’s try. That gave the commentators somewhere to go when the match reached a familiar conclusion, England succumbing to a game-settling late score and coming desperately close to turning it around in the final minutes.
The afternoon felt like a successful gamble by TNT. Surely there would be enough in this match to win over casual fans without the need to pander? Anyone on the fence about rugby will make up their mind based on the entertainment or interest it provides. There is no need to patronise with entry-level guff in place of analysis, or poems set to electronic dance music about how intense and meaningful sport is.
Instead a broadcast for grown-ups, and by the end no one was even talking about the haka any more. Just as well, for anyone still drinking along at home.
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