Rugby World Cup
Well the Rugby World Cup is up and running. I watched most of the England game against Fiji, not because I'm a rugby fanatic but I enjoy most competitive sport.

The occasion was spoiled for me not by the predictable England victory but by two other things. First was the hugely disrespectful Twickenham crowd who sang their "anthem" Swing Low Sweet Chariot as loud as they could when the proud Fijians performed their customary Cibi before the match kicked off. It is their equivalent of the Haka and while fronting up to it by the opposing side has become a bit of a tradition I have never heard the chanting drowned out in this fashion by a crowd before. What a bunch of tossers those supporters showed themselves to be.

Secondly, the ITV coverage was abysmal, leading me to actually switch off before the end. I'm well used to partisan broadcasting from commentators but ITV had staffed themselves up with a team of ex- England players for commentary and it was so one-sided it was off putting. The trouble is with the national TV channels is they forget that a lot of the people watching aren't from England and we in Wales, Scotland and N Ireland like to see a sense of balance and fair play - even when our own teams play. I've seen one or two other matches since and things improved, so possibly they are listening to what has been widespread condemnation as to how they broadcast the first match.

Posted by Stan on 20 September 2015