i had forgotten it was on the bbc and after i had got out of bed at daft o clock to watch it on channel 9, i was thinking that sky had improved coverage from last weekend



john kear made some good honest calls about the game , much better production than last weekends effort

But the Lions dont switch and change their name every other year though. They are two seperate entities whereas England IS GB and vice-versa. It's not too much of a suprise if some people get confused.

It WASN'T good!!!

It wasn't in HD!!!!!!! and surround sound!

the HD channel only had on previews.

DISGRACE!!!!

I enjoyed the BBC coverage, which in the past has at times seemed deliberately amateur. I hope we see more RL on the beeb.

wot e said

Have to agree that it should have been on HD also (just got a new telly

)

She was trying to be funny. I thought the Beeb did a great job yesterday. Have to disagree with whoever said that Davies was not annoying though. He never used to annoy me, but he said nothing that made any sense yesterday. Nobby kept having to effectively re-word and summarise what Davies was trying to say.

Dave Woods is ok, as opposed to excellent. But he's light years better than Ray or Eddie n Stevo. Kear on the other hand (excusing his insistence that Gaz Ellis was Ben Westwood for about 5 minutes!) was quite brilliant. Clare Balding was good, the build up and the post match was great (if you compare it to the NZ v France match on Sky, which began with Eddie talking over the national anthems and went straight to kick off).

Well done the Beeb. Let's have more games on National TV please.

Also thought the Aussie players were great when interviewed. Really pushed the openness of the competition. I know we all think it's a nailed on Aus or Kiwi win but who watching for the first time wants to hear Inglis say, France are second rate. Its great to hear everyone 'on message'.

Wa great to have a big game back on terrestrial tv a point Clare Balding rightly highlighted. Despite many people seemingly having access to SKY coverage these days there's nowt like having a game back on a major terrestrial channel to give it a much higher profile.

I thought the coverage was excellent overall, much better than SKY's.

The only downside - and it's nowt to do with the beeb - was the empty seats in the stadium. You never see that in major union games and thats in much larger stadiums. No matter how many times you try to big a game up as a major occasion, large blocks of empty seats suggest otherwise.

The crowd figure was pretty good so perhaps the RFL needs to look at their pricing strategy for the games so they make sure the seats that are in most regular camerashot are filled first.

it was noticeable that the ends of the ground where full (the cheapest seats) whilst the seats on the halfway line were empty.

I think at modern grounds such as the DW, KC, Galpharm etc the RFL can't really get away with the 'pay £10 more to sit one block nearer the halfway line' system that they usually go for...most RL fans are aware there isn't a bad seat in the grounds just mentioned, so simply go for the cheapest.

and it was great to have international RL on the Beeb, maybe the 10pm news did get the name wrong...but it woulden't have even been mentioned at all had the game been on SKY

The BBC stats quoted at half time as we saw on channel Nine over here were quite pathetic though, Andrew Voss and Phil Gould were taking the p@ss big time

As John Kear referred to England as Great Britain on multiple occasions throughout the commentary I think they can be forgiven. Justin Morgan also announced the game was being played in the evening.

Agree with the comment on the Aussie's interviewing well – Inglis even said that the Kiwis are world champions (“[url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/8335988.stmwe did play the world champs last week and were lucky enough to get a draw[/url”). This I think is the first time I've heard an Australian acknowledge this fact.

[url=http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/lhqnews/how-the-poms-can-win/2009/10/30/1256835150440.htmlCompared[/url with this:

“Some” great results being the mother of all understatements. In the last four years Australia have only won one major tournament. And that was in golden point injury time.

Maybe it says something about the attitudes of those who play the game and those who write about it.

I see Sky replay graphics were used

No they're not. A team that's had Welsh, Scottish and Irish players in it is obviously not England.

My only major issue with the BBC is their awful timing of replays and close-ups of the coaches. It's ridiculous to be replaying a tackle when play is ongoing.

I agree.On Aus TV they do the same but the replay is quick as a flash so the viewer doesn't miss much.

I think the RFL missed a great opportunity. Live on BBC it should have been played in London. That, from previous history, would have attracted a much bigger crowd and ensured all the national press sent decent journalists. Also we have a history of beating Oz first time out in London.

only just had time to read some of these posts today due to work, maybe you would like to include billy slater along with the beeb as he referred england as gb after last weeks aus v nz game

Yeah, coz she practiced directing the Ozzie and UK national anthems for a Lithuania vs Angola match. You do know she's a comedian, right?

The coverage was utter rubbish by the BBC IMO.

Sky should show all rugby league but the problem with that is not everyone sky so it's bit unfair.

You dont watch Sky coverage then???

The match production was done by Sky yesterday with the BBC taking their pictures so Sky were to blame for your complaints.

Again, hardly a revelation.

Their record stands up to any comparison.

And unlike the Ohll Blecks, they haven't choked when it counted (much!) over the last 30 years...

Name me one Irish, Scottish or Welsh player who has played for GB in the last 10 years besides Brian Carney. And i'm talking proper Irish, Scottish & Welsh a la Jonathan Davies.

The answer is none. Players may have played for Ireland, Scotland or Wales but this is only on heritage and when they were younger and couldn't get into the England/GB team.

If Englands is NOT the same as GB how can there be a Euro Nations tournament when GB are in the Tri-Nations with England A Ireland, Scotland & Wales competing?

GB is and was England and Vice-versa. It doesn't matter really what we're called this year, it is essentially the same thing.

Your choice of a 10 year timeframe appears completely arbitrary.

GB has had many players of Scottish, Welsh and Irish heritage throughout its history.

Scotsman Dave Valentine was the first GB captain to lift the RLWC - as but one example...