The commentators
It was good to see that New Zealand rostered two senior commentators to work the Australia v Argentina opening game of the Junior World Championships.
Grant Nesbitt sometimes gets the names of players mixed up and called Jonah Placid “Foketi” several times. Mind you, he occasionally does the same with Super Rugby players’ names, even the Kiwis. However he is a smooth operator and makes the game flow. Former Tongan international Willie Lose was superb in analysis, as usual.
Greg Clark was in great form again in the Reds v Highlanders match; there are not too many anchor commentators in the world better than Clarkie, if any.
But you don’t have to be technically sound in speech or analysis to be an enjoyable commentator like Clark and Nesbitt.
In many ways Robbie Nock of Eurosports is not the greatest as he ums and aahs, but he is so affable that you are carried along with his conversations—and he knows French rugby inside out.
The silver-tongued Morgan Turinui
Eurosports have their commentators work in their Paris studios for a majority of games played outside the city, which is why they use so many English-speaking players from Racing Metro and Stade Français as co-commentators helping Nock, mostly when they are injured.
Aussies Frankie Fainifo, Digby Ioane and Richard Kingi have all had stints, and in a game between Racing and Toulouse last year Nock must have got delayed in Paris traffic because Frankie was on his own at the start of the match.
But the star Aussie co-commentators for Eurosports this season were Morgan Turinui and David Lyons. It is hardly surprising that Turinui was so good because he was articulate when he talked about rugby in the “Big Sports Breakfast” show on Sydney radio a while back; but Lyons was a surprise package.
But even they, working in tandem with Nock, struggled to make interesting a dog of a Top 14 final on the weekend.
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