Just watched a recording of this match this evening. One of the joys of Robbie Deans's quiet, incisive commentary was how he didn't just label bits of play as good or bad, but explained what made a play good. In praising Cooper's extra long pass to Korobeite that led to DHP's try, Deans noted that the important aspect was the pass was in out front of Korobeite so he could run onto it and that's what made it so hard for the defence to stop him. In praising a good tackle from Ruru, he described how Ruru kept his feet active as he was driving in the tackle to hold up the Sunwolves player which bought the Rebels team time to reform their defensive line.
One of the greatest mistakes in the broadcasting of rugby in Australia for so many years has been the lack of this sort of commentary that not only describes the play, but also explains the play and seeks to improve the audience's technical understanding. RD's commentary was great for any juniors watching, and building up the audience's technical understanding helps win converts ($valuable eyeballs$).
HiKa
Roar Rookie
Just watched a recording of this match this evening. One of the joys of Robbie Deans's quiet, incisive commentary was how he didn't just label bits of play as good or bad, but explained what made a play good. In praising Cooper's extra long pass to Korobeite that led to DHP's try, Deans noted that the important aspect was the pass was in out front of Korobeite so he could run onto it and that's what made it so hard for the defence to stop him. In praising a good tackle from Ruru, he described how Ruru kept his feet active as he was driving in the tackle to hold up the Sunwolves player which bought the Rebels team time to reform their defensive line. One of the greatest mistakes in the broadcasting of rugby in Australia for so many years has been the lack of this sort of commentary that not only describes the play, but also explains the play and seeks to improve the audience's technical understanding. RD's commentary was great for any juniors watching, and building up the audience's technical understanding helps win converts ($valuable eyeballs$).