Bias England commentary

[Emeric]

Itv coverage is not helped by shamelessly bias commentary, but, Phil Vickery has taken it to a new level.."try!! Come on England!!!!" He is spoiling the coverage and professionally his bias is inappropriate. Itv should cut their losses and employ an impartial and no longer use the England team's most bias and loyal fan in the co commentary box-- aaargghhh!!!

 

[JW.]

Bias or not, Phil Vickery made some very clever comments and I thought he added something to the commentary.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Meh, ITV has been crap in general - Alan Quinlan has been good, can't think of many others

 

[ORothlain]

Maybe they're going for bias? Have you ever heard the commentary from FOX Sports in Australia? ...Or the Rugby Channel in NZ? Completely focused on their national side.

 

[joeyboy07]

If the commentators nation are playing, they are going to be bias! It is like that all the time.

 

[Teh Mite]

An Englander pleased to see England be successful, shocker.

Even the great Bill McLaren couldn't held get a little more excited then usual when Scotland did something right.

 

[Saintjay]

I remember Rob Andrew screaming his head off in the 2003 final. That is now classic TV.

I think all the ITV pundits want there home teams to do well. Fitzpatrick, Pienaar and co are always going to root for there home nation. Why would Vickery be any different.
If you want bias have a watch of scrum V on BBC one Wales they are welsh biased and quite right to be so.

As a player I like Vickery, he is not great in the talking department.

The problem with ITV is they have to make it rugby lite for the wider viewing public, who only watch the game every four years. Don't get me started on those stupid touch T.V's

To be honest I prefer the BBC, Brian Moore and Keith Wood crack me up. I accept lots of people hate Moore as well.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Fitzpatrick, Pienaar and co are always going to root for there home nation.

Nah, Fitzpatrick routes for everyone who isn't from the NH

 

[Emeric]

Bias vickery

If the commentators nation are playing, they are going to be bias! It is like that all the time.

You know what, I think you are right. Having said that, i find the bias so frustrating as I want to hear a supposed expert offer me insightful views into the opposition, thus allowing true enthusiasts to benefit from their impartiality rather than feel we're listening to our blinkered mate down the pub.

 

[Thingimubob]

Meh ITV have always been like this, the whole ''and now to the England camp'' pretty much every day (sometimes 2 or 3 times a day) is very annoying! I've got no problem at all with them going to the England camp a lot, but find it really daft that they don't give the same kind of coverage to the other home nations. They did this within something like 30mins of their World Cup coverage starting, and an English friend of mine said something like ''well it's because Englands bigger, so will have more viewers'' - doesn't really make sense to me, as it's the coverage for all of Britain so all viewers should be catered for.
Whenever I've had the chance I switch to S4C, they actually know what they're talking about (unlike many of ITV's pundits/commentators!), don't have any pointless and awkward gimmicks like ITV's touch screen thing and (kind of ironically) aren't really biased. Always found it funny that they aren't biased, not as if there's many Welsh speaking English/Irish/Scottish fans to complain about it! That said, the English language option of S4C is awful apparently! Never watched it personally, but heard bad things about their commentary.

 

[DuncTheDoodle]

Bias commentry doesn't bother me, as said, I'm use to it. Vickery has, however, been -contary to what JW said- a bit of a rubbish commentator and has offered no kind of analysis or, failing that, any kind of light relief. (At least Jiffy is funny!) The thing that really annoys me is the coverage. You've got some good pundits in, who laregely know what they're on about and have experience as both players and pundits, but then force them to talk about England 24/7 when much of the time they aren't bothered. I'd like to see either analysis of the last game or build-up for the next one, not a repeated conversation about a match happening in a weeks time.

The other day Craig Doyle even said "So then, you may have noticed in the past 15 minutes, we haven't mentioned England...". They know what's happening, yet are powerless to stop it. Annoying.

 

[Thingimubob]

Bias commentry doesn't bother me, as said, I'm use to it. Vickery has, however, been -contary to what JW said- a bit of a rubbish commentator and has offered no kind of analysis or, failing that, any kind of light relief. (At least Jiffy is funny!) The thing that really annoys me is the coverage. You've got some good pundits in, who laregely know what they're on about and have experience as both players and pundits, but then force them to talk about England 24/7 when much of the time they aren't bothered. I'd like to see either analysis of the last game or build-up for the next one, not a repeated conversation about a match happening in a weeks time.

The other day Craig Doyle even said "So then, you may have noticed in the past 15 minutes, we haven't mentioned England...". They know what's happening, yet are powerless to stop it. Annoying.

This sums it up for me. One thing that BBC does so much better than ITV when covering rugby is that they at try to put a bit of humour in. ITVs is very straight, rigid and serious, though Craig Doyle does try a bit. Watching Scrum V after the Wales vs SA match was just a breath of fresh air compaired to the ITV . Think they had, Joe Muhammed presenting and Jonathan Davies, Tom Shanklin, Thinus Delport and (possibly) Phil Bennett as pundits - all of which add plenty of jokes and light heartedness to the serious rugby talk. They had Jed Thian (guy who does ARC) on a webcam too to chat.

 

[smartcooky]

Well I've been impressed with Stuart Barnes, who has been on the pre & post-game comments and discussion panel for all the world cup games on NZ's Sky TV.

He comes across well, and while his knowledge of the Laws ain't that flash, he obviously knows the game itself well, and has a great tactical understanding of the game.

 

[Saintjay]

This sums it up for me. One thing that BBC does so much better than ITV when covering rugby is that they at try to put a bit of humour in. ITVs is very straight, rigid and serious, though Craig Doyle does try a bit. Watching Scrum V after the Wales vs SA match was just a breath of fresh air compaired to the ITV . Think they had, Joe Muhammed presenting and Jonathan Davies, Tom Shanklin, Thinus Delport and (possibly) Phil Bennett as pundits - all of which add plenty of jokes and light heartedness to the serious rugby talk. They had Jed Thian (guy who does ARC) on a webcam too to chat.

Mate I think it was last weeks Scrum V that was pretty funny. Again they had Jed Thian on and had a good debate about the England pub scandal. Jonathan Davis just said thank god, they never had mobile cameras etc when Wales went on tour back in the day. Well were catching a repeat if you can.

 

[j'nuh]

"This isn't England vs. Romania, it's Cueto vs. Ashton." Ugh. Disrespectful, biased and grating on the ears. It sounds like commentary particularly suited for all the English "fans" who tune in to watch rugby once every four years when the football isn't on - those people who still think Wilkinson is the best fly-half in the world because he did "that special dropkick in 2003". This is coupled with the increase in the unwanted media attention that has been so disrupting to the England football team over the years, coming in nicely in time for the most important period in every 4-year cycle.

And Vickery? I'm going to go insane if he continues to the end. If he wasn't a name, it'd be as if they've taken any bloke from the pub, sat him in the chair and asked him to cheer, grunt or add something useless depending on how well England are doing. Makes me miss Brian Moore. I think the main problem is that ITV don't really have to appear unbiased. The majority of the viewers in the UK are english, so it "makes sense" to appeal to them.

But then, even the commentary in the Scotland game: "You know when you're putting on the pan on the stove and letting that boiled egg bubble, that's where we're at at the moment. It's simmering there nicely." Geez. Thanks for the technical insight. Go enjoy your egg and please leave us alone.

 

[Thingimubob]

Mate I think it was last weeks Scrum V that was pretty funny. Again they had Jed Thian on and had a good debate about the England pub scandal. Jonathan Davis just said thank god, they never had mobile cameras etc when Wales went on tour back in the day. Well were catching a repeat if you can.

Ah I missed last weeks one! Think Im just too late on the iPlayer front too. Ah the England pub thing was daft - they're rugby players! Not as if they did anything bad while they were out.

 

[psychic duck]

Bias or not, Phil Vickery made some very clever comments and I thought he added something to the commentary.

Phil Vickery is an awful commentator, biased, no good analysis, has poor knowledge of the minnows or any side but England ...

he is ITV's answer to TRF's superprop

An Englander pleased to see England be successful, shocker.

Even the great Bill McLaren couldn't held get a little more excited then usual when Scotland did something right.

wanting your side to win is different from being biased and being ignorant of the opposition

for example TRF_Olyy wants England to win, but isn't biased and criticizes both teams fairly

 

[monkeypigeon]

Bias commentry doesn't bother me, as said, I'm use to it. Vickery has, however, been -contary to what JW said- a bit of a rubbish commentator and has offered no kind of analysis or, failing that, any kind of light relief. (At least Jiffy is funny!) The thing that really annoys me is the coverage. You've got some good pundits in, who laregely know what they're on about and have experience as both players and pundits, but then force them to talk about England 24/7 when much of the time they aren't bothered. I'd like to see either analysis of the last game or build-up for the next one, not a repeated conversation about a match happening in a weeks time.

The other day Craig Doyle even said "So then, you may have noticed in the past 15 minutes, we haven't mentioned England...". They know what's happening, yet are powerless to stop it. Annoying.

Craig Doyle's been a good laugh actually. He doesn't seem a complete dunce when asking the questions and makes the odd wise crack now and then....such as the one you mention.

I also quite liked Mchael Lynagh's contributions right up untill he decided that Sean O'Brien was a bit like Jamie Haskell...

Phil Vickery is an awful commentator, biased, no good analysis, has poor knowledge of the minnows or any side but England ...

he is ITV's answer to TRF's superprop



wanting your side to win is different from being biased and being ignorant of the opposition

for example TRF_Olyy wants England to win, but isn't biased and criticizes both teams fairly

Maybe he is Superprop?

 

[scarlets-fan]

You can't beat Jiffy! Got to be the funniest commentator, but even he can be a little biased. The only commentator that I think is fairly even is Eddie Butler, every time someone scores against Wales he doesn't do that disappointed commentator voice that all the others do. Seems to just enjoy watching teams play well, even if its not wales.

Regarding the touch screen analysis i do think they should use it better like Monday Night Footbal, but not as often as they do. And Brynmor Williams on ScrumV using their touch screen is just awkward, he really doesn't look comfortable using technology.lol

 

[Bull]

I don't think anyone can be worse than Jonathan Davies, luckily I haven't heard him during the WC.