In 2000 Marshall, about to be yellow carded by South African referee Andrew Watson, stormed away near the end of a Crusaders-Brumbies game, swearing at Watson, and saying he’d save him the [expletive] time of getting out a yellow card. Watson was so bemused he called Marshall back, and it was only a penalty.
Being a rugby commentator in New Zealand, as the Sky decision on Marshall shows, is a precarious job. Every time a leading All Black or Black Fern retires the potential talent pool grows.
It’s also very similar to being an All Blacks selector. The vast majority of fans think they could do better.
So bravo to Grant Nisbett, the jewel in the Sky rugby coverage crown, who easily topped a Herald poll of Sky’s front people. Nisbett, who first called a test on Sky in 1984, has managed the difficult balancing act of being at once authoritative, but never overbearing. It’s a reflection of the man, who in the 40 plus years since we met, I’ve never seen be anything but good natured and likeable off screen.
On the topic of veterans, when Ian Smith “by mutual agreement” left Sky at the end of last year, as viewers we lost a calm, engaging, informed voice.
It is the commentators who matter. Tweaks to how rugby’s shown on television have often been a waste of space.
There’s no more vanilla, pointless, exercise than interviews at halftime, or during a game, with assistant coaches and subbed players. Don’t blame the coaches, in particular. The day that a coach will say on live tv that a weakness in the opposition’s scrum defence has been spotted, and gives details of how his team plans to exploit it, is the day Prince Harry announces he might have been a bit overwrought about his family.
One exception does come to mind. The Chiefs first-five Bryn Gatland, without giving away trade secrets on air, was startlingly insightful and articulate in a recent sideline interview. He’s not an All Black, but if he has any interest in the role when his playing days are over, he’d make a superb tv analyst.
