BBC probably could - but it sounds like they won't, certinaly not now. Darren Lethem did post on the CWG's thread about what the BBC had their own comms at. However some of the world feeds have some 'BBC' voices such as Paul Mitchell on Bowls, Mullins to a sorts here on the rugby as he does tennis for the beeb still. However with having Inverdale and co pitchside seems bizarre not having likes of Cotter there for the BBC or a part of a better world feed. Mannix and Moore aren't on the IRB feed are they(?) they are pretty poor. I go on about Scott Hastings unhealthily.

With the BBC guys at the disposal (even from the regions) which I mentioned above or the likes of Starmer-Smith it's baffling. I sensed Mullins would be there from his tweets this week but was looking forward to a strong BBC line up for the rugby, in probably the best sevens atmosphere ever this weekend. (Bar maybe the Borders sevens circuit, being biased Borderer, which includes more than just overhyped Melrose by the way )

The BBC's coverage of the Rugby 7's is confusing. A pitchside presence but world feed commentators? Definitely not consistent with other venues that have their own presenters (pool and velodrome).

Surely Eddie Butler is available. And Brian Moore, who could be on rotation as co-comm with Andy Nicol and Jonathan Davies.


It looks like Cotter will be on the athletics roster - he was at the Usain Bolt press conference.

Slightly strange the whole Mullins issue when you factor in BT bringing in Wyn Gruffydd (a regular IRB world feeder I understand?) to do Premiership 7s whilst their head commentator was world-feeding himself at the Commonwealth Games.

(Though perhaps BT just wanted a Welsh voice to partner Dallaglio, and are trying to increase their lineup for their Champions Cup coverage this coming season.)

No Ali Ekykn also (either on BT or BBC/WF). Good shout though on Wyn Gruffydd - he could well be used on Welsh games in the Heineken/Parker pen cup and would be a good choice. I like on the IRB world feeds - Did he ever work for BBC Wales or something the past? (The Diff might know)

Interesting question will what side will Martin Gillingham bat for (hoping he is well, or will be for the new season). He worked for BT and Sky last season. I'd suspect he will be with Sky as they have the Top 14 back, along with the Pro 12 in the mix, Sky's rugby comms will have some work to do again(!)


I didn't think Butler/Moore would be there. However there could of been a combined/far better rugby world feed. I'm sure Cotter could of done the Rugby - as he'd miss one night of athletics (tonight).

I guess he'll do Top 14 for Sky Sports, unless Stuart and Miles need something to do. We still don't know how much Pro 12 they'll be showing, so who knows if Stuart & Miles will be needed/used or if they'll go with Mark Robson & Ieuan Evans.

Actually, if Sky are showing 5 games in the Champions Cup and up to 5 in the Challenge Cup per weekend then who knows if they'll need a fourth commentary team.
Sky have Harrison/Barnes, Robson/Evans and Hammond/Morris.
BT have Mullins/Kay/Healey, Eykyn/Dallaglio/Dawson and not a lot else so maybe Gillingham or Gruffydd will lead a team. (Of course this assumes they'll use 3-man teams which I'm sure they will on the main channel, if they end up showing games on ESPN/online then maybe they'll go for a 2-man team.)

Commonwealth Games Rugby 7s - Sunday 27 July

Bowl/Shield Quarter Finals
Canada v Trinidad & Tobago: Scott Hastings & Andy Moore
Uganda v Malaysia: Andy Moore & Simon Mannix
Papua New Guinea v Sri Lanka: Nick Mullins & Scott Hastings
Cook Islands v Barbados: Scott Hastings & Simon Mannix

Scott Hastings joking that referee Marius van der Westhuizen is spared listening to them, shame that's not the case for the rest of us!

Commonwealth Games Rugby 7s - Sunday 27 July

Quarter Finals
New Zealand v Kenya: Nick Mullins & Simon Mannix
Australia v Wales: Nick Mullins & Andy Moore
Samoa v England: Scott Hastings & Andy Moore
South Africa v Scotland: Nick Mullins & Scott Hastings

Shield Semi Finals
Trinidad & Tobago v Malaysia: Andy Moore & Simon Mannix
Sri Lanka v Barbados: Scott Hastings & Simon Mannix

IAAF World Junior Championships, Eugene (Eurosport 2)

Days 1 & 2 - Tim Hutchings and Martin Gillingham
Days 3-6 - Chris Dennis and Thomas Gayle

Until the fifth day (yesterday), all showings of this were delayed until the following morning. Live coverage was for Saturday and Sunday only.

If you watched it last night, you, like me, would've seen a bizarre run by the 2nd runner for the Nigerians in the 4x400 mens relay.

They finished third, got South African disqualified to make second. South Africa then appealed and got Nigeria DQ instead!

Nice to get a mention above

Yeah the BBC produced their list of commentators a few weeks ago and stated they would be taking world feed at other events. Cotter is indeed down for Athletics, i think he is being groomed as the number 2 to Crammy by the looks of it.

I want to see the colour of his medals before he is allowed in the BBC commentary box.

Sky had 10-12 games a weekend - especially in the pools (usually mostly Heineken games, bar the Thursday night match) last season on a European weekend and you had Harrison, Hammond, Robson and Gillingham as staples. Also you had Bob Symonds and Simon Ward involved. As well as Cotter & Hastings as main comms being used some weekends also. Usually there were 6 commentary pairings covering 10-12 games.

I suspect Sky will use 5 commentary teams at least a weekend covering 10 games - depending on time slots. That is two games per pairing - which sounds 'stretched' as is. I think Gillingham will be a Sky man with the Top 14 too.

BT's main Commentators include obviously Mullins and Eykyn. I would think Cotter may join this line up too - as he has done odd game on BT too. Gruffydd possibly also - however the IRB 7s circuit will have started up for some of those rounds possibly.

Pro 12 wise - basically Sky can show whatever BBC Wales/Sco/NI don't show. I'm sure there was some where that basically all bar a select handful of games will be live on TV a weekend whether it's BBC/S4C/Sky. Sky will i'm sure show plenty of home Irish team games - as a lot are shown on RTE and slip out of the UK TV radar.

Agreed, it seems there's an (RTÉ?) timeslot at about 7:30 on a Saturday evening where most of the big Irish games are shown that never ends up on TV here.

However, isn't the programming on Sky Sports the same in the UK and Ireland? Would they be able to show these games in Ireland (or have RTÉ lost their rights)?

i thought i saw somewhere saying they show the game of the week? every saturday

They could be locked in Ireland, or shown on both - Sky have rights to all games. So they can show the games I'd think across both UK and Ire.

Just checked - 33 live games from the Pro 12 on Sky.

So Sky could have a live game per week, all 3 knockout games and then 8 other games (maybe both halves of the Welsh Double Header or things like that)?

They are basically in control of what they show then.

Well Sky aren't 'exclusive rights holders' I don't know/ think they can/will show games already on BBC Wales etc - bar the playoffs/final. However we will see. I just thought Sky would probably show games not already on TV, especially those Saturday evening slots as mentioned.

It'll be interesting to see who they have commentating, will the big games get Harrison & Barnes or will they go with the Celtic combo of Robson & Evans as the lead pairing on the Pro 12? (Presumably towards the end of the season one will do Pro 12 and the other Top 14.)

I'd think Harrison/Barnes will do the big Pro 12 games such as Leinster v Munster. Robson/Evans as back up. Gillingham and Hammond on Top 14 I think and then in Europe as discussed above.

Same colour as Paul Dickensen's

Seeing as my name has been mentioned...

Wyn Gruffydd is primarily an S4C commentator, he's commentated on some of the smaller rugby union events they've shown (things like the Junior World Championships and SWALEC Finals day) and has also been involved in their English language Red Button commentaries on Pro12 matches - so you may have heard him commentating on BBC Two Wales' Scrum V Sunday, as they take these commentaries on their highlights edits of S4C live games.

With Huw Llewellyn Davies having retired at the end of last season, I'm wondering if Wyn is in line to succeed him as S4C's main commentator on the Pro12 and Wales' games in the Six Nations. With him doing lots of freelance work, particularly recently, I'm not sure how likely this is.

I've not seen any coverage of the Rugby Sevens at the Commonwealth Games (or anything else from Glasgow 2014 for that matter), but I'm guessing the Andy Moore who is involved in these commentaries is the former Wales international who regularly works on S4C's English language Red Button commentaries on Pro12 games. He usually does co-commentaries on there but has been known to work as their lead commentator on occasion as well.

Just for clarity on the whole Pro12 thing, BBC 2 Wales keep their Friday night slot, but S4C can no longer show anything on their usual Saturday evening, with Sunday afternoon being their new time.

It's not just commentary, some of the pictures are being provided by external production companies as well eg Sunset + Vine. This was the reason Barry Davies stepped down from the hockey last year as an external firm provided last year's (was it World or Euro) tournament and are doing the CWG.

Saturday afternoon is free for Sky then (or maybe lunchtime or 3 o'clock if they don't want to clash with the Premier League)

RTE are indeed out, withdrawing after Sky came on board.

That is because they are the host broadcaster, in partnership with Australia's Global Television.

http://www.svgtvhostbroadcaster.tv/about-us.aspx