I agree. What's the point of having it on BBC2 Scotland as I expect everybody who can pick up BBC2 Scotland already have access to BBC Alba. (I admit I only suspect this for Sky, Freesat and Freeview.)

Yeah, the commentary's in Scots Gaelic still from what I can make out. It's a shame that the separate BBC regions have to do their own coverage, just stick it on BBC 2 nationwide with Butler, Moore and Matthews. (We're spared Inverdale at least during the French Open.)

I bet the situation improves if Sky do the final next year.

Just to clarify the conflicting bit of information between Ian's post and my one directly above his detailing the Scrum V Live coverage, BBC Two Wales had a three man commentary team of Charlo, Stuart Davies and Andy Nicol (the latter doubling up as a pundit).

Can't speak about the BBC Scotland coverage, but I thought the BBC Wales coverage of the final was excellent. Great pundits, a strong commentary team and a very nice closing montage. Scrum V is consistently excellent and I hope they will be broadcasting the final next year regardless of the Sky Sports deal.

Top 14 Rugby - Saturday 31 May (BT Sport 1)

Toulon v Castres - Final

Jill Douglas presenting from the BT studio alongside Guy Armitage and Tom May.

Commentators: Andrew Cotter & Hugo Southwell

So it's Cotter and not Gillingham or Mullins doing this one.

It's blatently off-tube too, so to add in my second piss poor of the night, the sound mix is making an 80,000 seater like an 800 seater with the quiet sfx. Story of BT's off-tubing in football and rugby all season.

The stadium noise is always very quiet on Sky's coverage of rugby games in France, and the commentators are generally on site. It's disappointing that there isn't an on-site commentary team for Jonny Wilkinson's last game though, particularly with BT's #1 commentator doing Roland Garros this week. I do wonder if BT aren't allowed to send commentators to the ground (the same way that I wonder why the BBC don't use their own comms for things like the Super Bowl).

Judging by his Twitter feed it looks like Martin Gillingham has gone to New Zealand for the IRB Junior World Championships

I am sure the issue for French rugby union is it simply not being considered worth the cost. Sky used to do their own on-site commentary for the Super Bowl but people wanted the "real" US host broadcaster one. The same was true of BBC viewers who complained when they used the international feed the first time they carried it. Both BBC Radio and now Absolute radio produce their own on-site commentary. When it was on BBC TV the radio commentary was a red button option for anyone wanting a British one.

This year Sky Sports are showing all Catalans Dragons home matches in Super League as they are shown in France on beIN Sports. But despite being against English teams, and Sky using their own graphics which are (now) linked to the official game clock, they are still only calling them from Isleworth.

Saturday 31st May - Sky Sports Box Office

IBF & WBA Super Middleweight Championship Match: Carl Froch v George Groves II

Johnny Nelson presented from Wembley Stadium alongside Glenn McCrory and David Haye

Commentators: Nick Halling, Jim Watt and Paulie Malignaggi

Reporter: Ed Robinson, joined by Amir Khan for analysis between the fifth and sixth round

Correct me if I'm wrong, but would this be the first time that coverage of a major sporting event in this country has been anchored by a black person?

Depends how you define major.

Is it just me or of late, despite liking Mark Petchey on the tennis, he is becoming quite hyerbole at times over the smallest things.

No Dave Clark?

I was wondering about that as well.

I know there was a PDC darts tournament in Dubai this week so perhaps he fronted that but he has missed tournaments to host big fights before when they've clashed, so I don't know why they wouldn't draft him back in to present arguably the biggest fight Sky has ever shown.

Johnny Nelson did his best but he's not a presenter and I think you could tell that fairly clearly from watching him last night.

Dave Clark wasn't in Dubai. It was hosted by local guys.

Dave hasn't been on some of the boxing lately. Maybe he is cutting down a bit of his work load.

Adam Smith wasn't on it either was he ? He would be preferred choice as reserve host for me.

England v Barbarians - Sunday 1 June (Sky Sports 1)

Alex Payne presenting from Twickenham alongside Pat Sanderson and Ugo Monye.

Commentators: Simon Ward & Dewi Morris

Presumably Sky's main 3 rugby commentators have flown out already for next week. I presume the lineups will be the follows:

NZL v ENG: Miles Harrison & Stuart Barnes

RSA v WAL: Mark Robson & Ieuan Evans

ARG v IRE: Johnnie Hammond & Alan Quinlan (IIRC they did Ireland in NZ two years ago)

With commentary on AUS v FRA being Fox host broadcaster commentary.

Admittedly I don't watch boxing every week, but whenever I do Jim Watt seems to get ever more irritating.

Dave Clarke has Parkinson's Disease. Interview with him talking about it here:
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport...battle-7016395

I know, he is quite open about it but i didnt want to speculate as to why thats why he wasnt on last night.

Nelson has presented pretty much all of the live boxing on Sky since Christmas. It's clearly a role they've been grooming him for for a few years, with him co-presenting Ringside since they brought it back in 2010 (or maybe 2011?). He's a top bloke, and I rate him highly as a pundit, but he can't read an autocue to save his life on Ringside, and on live presenting stutters a lot, and falls in to that old trap of talking really slowly when he's not sure what to say next.

Meanwhile, HBO had a really odd setup for the fight. The usual crew of Jim Lampley, Max Kellerman and Roy Jones Jr commentated on both Froch v Groves, and Simpiwe Vetyeka v Nonito Donaire earlier in the day in Macau from Las Vegas, where there was some more HBO boxing later that night going on (that they didn't even commentate on), with 'ringside scorer' Steve Weisfeld in a New York studio. Fair play if you understood what I just wrote.

Again, depends on your definition of major, but basically, no. Off the top of my head, there was John Barnes's ill-fated spell on Football on Five, Ron McIntosh has done some boxing on the BBC but it's debatable how major those were. Certainly would've had more viewers than last night's fight.

In terms of 'world' events, Ore Oduba stumbled his way through a World Track cycling championships for the BBC a couple of years back, Ortis Deley did the world athletics on Channel 4, and Ade Adepitan presents the Paralympics on Channel 4.

I would certainly call the Paralympics a major sporting event.

I imagine Harrison and Barnes will be in New Zealand, Robson and Evans possibly, but that series doesn't start until the following Saturday (South Africa play a World XV next week)

If anything the Ireland series will be done off tube, especially given Hammond is likely to still be over here for the Championship Final next week

Perhaps Mark Robson & Alan Quinlan will do Ireland's tour then, with Hammond and Ieuan Evans in SA and SuperSport commentary for the World XV match. (Although Argentina is only 4 hours behind so it's not implausible that they fly Hammond out after the Championship final). If they're going to do Ireland off-tube they should have let the BBC do it (or is it part of the Sanzar deal now?), they at least had the decency to send Butler out there for England last year.

I was quite surprised to hear Simon Ward do the Barbarians match alongside Dewi Morris, considering Harrison and Barnes did it last year before flying off to Hong Kong (that evening IIRC). Perhaps he will do the Championship final instead.