'My first ever comms and my mic didn't work… I was crying inside' - BOD on punditry gaffes, Saracens cheating, time-wasting scrums and Ireland hosting a World Cup
Brian O’Driscoll has been like a kid at Christmas this weekend. So many appetising opening round Champions Cup fixtures, so many hours devoted to watching live rugby on BT Sport. Nirvana.
When he retired in 2014 after a stellar playing career, he never imagined he would still be this attached to the sport in a working capacity five years later. BT Sport were a novice broadcaster at the time, a young upstart challenging the hegemony of the polished Sky Sports who had made the European landscape its pride and joy.
But BT have since gone from strength to strength. Just like O’Driscoll’s punditry following a mortifying debut. “My first ever comms in the RDS, the camera panned to us in the commentary box and my microphone didn’t work,” he ruefully recalled for RugbyPass.
“I was nervous enough and the next thing none of the instruments were working for me, so I was just mouthing into my microphone with a camera on me and no one could hear a word that I was saying. I was crying inside, but like all things the more you do it the better you get.
“Yeah, you forget a word or a player every so often and that is where producers and directors come into their own being able to save you in circumstances where you have drawn a blank. You are never complete, particularly the irregularity which I do punditry, two weeks on and five weeks off and two weeks on. You never properly get into a weekly groove of it, but you are always trying to refine things.
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“I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” he continued, his mind again drifting back to that strange period when his daily routine as a player was no more and he had to find his feet again doing something else. “I wanted to still remain involved in the game in some capacity but I didn’t want to be a coach, I didn’t want to be tied to a team where I would have an involvement every week and every weekend.
“This gave me an opportunity to be able to keep my foot in the door with rugby and talk about it, and BT had a new offering. They were coming in for European rugby, which I have always got a love for. They had a bit of a different set-up than other broadcasters at that time. Our studios gave us an opportunity to interact with the viewer at home and have people come in and pose questions, really spell it out. It was a different type of product they were offering and I thought that would be a cool thing to be part of.
“As a player, you look at other players and aspects of their game that they are particularly good at and you try and steal them or plagiarise those aspects and shape them all together to try to be a more complete player. It’s the same with captaincy and the same with punditry where you look at things that other people are doing well and have an impact on you. As a result, you go and shape that a little into the way that you want to come across on the screen but you have to be true to yourself as well.
The journey to Marseille begins tonight!
The greatest prize in club rugby, the pinnacle, remembered by those who have lifted the trophy aloft.
Bring it on! ? pic.twitter.com/tw6uTtuR1H
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) November 15, 2019
“You can’t try and copy someone else’s style because ultimately you will end up doing a lesser job than they have done. You still have to do what comes naturally to you, but I don’t think there is no harm in always being aware of what else is out there.”
This Sunday’s studio assignment in Stratford includes covering the club who have been the talk of rugby this past fortnight – Saracens. They are in Paris, up against their old 2016 cup final rivals Racing in a tournament where the pitch is a hell of a lot more level compared to the £5.3million fine and 35-point deduction inflicted on them by Premiership Rugby.
The latest vibe is the Londoners won’t be appealing those sanctions, which is just as well as O’Driscoll believes they had been sailing pretty close to the wind for some time. “Listen, there is obviously a case to answer. It has been the worst kept secret for a number of years now,” he said about last season’s double Premiership and European champions.
A pre-game TV interview on Saturday is the first time Mark McCall has been heard from since last Tuesday's salary cap revelations about Saracens https://t.co/jFrsWg6Lov
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 9, 2019
“Rob Baxter put it really well, should they be looking for loopholes and trying to break the system and break the regulations of which they signed up to a number of years ago and does that question the integrity of the tournament and question the integrity of the game?
“You have got a very valid point in saying that. We are trying to have a level playing field to make the game survive and by doing this, it targets the best players but it also creates a huge amount of angst where all the teams haven’t been able to compete with them on the basis of having the quality of players and the depth of players and paying them bigger sums.
“As a result, Saracens are able to rest them that little bit more often, have more squad rotation, so there is a number of different factors in that and I can understand why some people have been very outspoken. It is not as relevant to Europe because there is no salary cap, but I can understand it in the Gallagher Premiership how they would be very annoyed and very irritated.”
"The best we've seen from @ExeterChiefs this season!"
"Very, very impressive. Top marks."@BrianODriscoll and @dallaglio8 heap praise on Rob Baxter's side after a massive European performance ?#HeinekenChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/8vH2aBWO1Z
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) November 16, 2019
Irritated is how he sounds himself when asked just who might be lifting the European trophy in Marseille in six months’ time. “It is hard to predict that,” he shrugged, but recent history suggests teams from a country knocked out early at the World Cup are in pole position.
Munster and Leinster were champions in 2008 and 2012 following early Ireland exits, while Saracens benefited in 2016 from England’s premature demise at their own World Cup some months earlier. “Europe is such a difficult competition to win that when you do get there it’s a really magnificent feeling. I was lucky enough to do it three times and some of the Leinster boys have done it four times and they are trying to chase that fifth one, be the first team to ever achieve five European victories.
“There is always something (to chase). The game has moved on so much that it is always very much the next-game focus. There is no time really for celebrating and lingering on what has gone on before. It is all about the next thing you can achieve and that is a professional mentality that is really beholden in the last five or ten years.”
‘Most teams in Europe have fines if you arrive late, but we think making players understand that to be on time is a value is more important’
– @MarcoBortolami tells @heagneyl about the transformation at @BenettonRugby to get back into @ChampionsCup https://t.co/utb25EvECk— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 16, 2019
With the latest World Cup just over, O’Driscoll has one wish for the sport – that referees become far stricter in their officiating of the scrum as he felt too much time was lost with the set-piece being reset. “One thing the final did show us was for the purist the importance of having a scrum. As much as I am a back and I want the ball, I still don’t want the scrum to become simply just a restart of the game.
“You have to have a competition there and I don’t know exactly what you have to do. I think referees probably have to make a decision. Sometimes on the first scrum and on the second. I don’t think we can afford to have three and four reset scrums and losing two and a half, three minutes, three and a half minutes to one scrum.
“That is unacceptable so referees just need to get stricter and not accept people trying to pull the wool over their eyes. Make clear, concise decisions and then let’s move on with it. That is one aspect. Rather than waiting because you are unsure, just penalise, back your instinct and run with it.”
The road to victory for South Africa over England became clear as early as the third minute in Yokohamahttps://t.co/Q9aRfftx1h
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 2, 2019
That was precisely what World Rugby did in 2009 when taking the bold gamble of awarding the finals to Japan. No one could have known for certain the tournament in the Far East would be such a soaraway success, but O’Driscoll is glad how it panned out.
“I thought it was a brilliant choice of venue. They put on a fantastic show. There was nothing you could do about the worst typhoon in 60 years, but even the way that was thankfully managed it had minimal effect on the outcome of the World Cup which was really important for the integrity of it.
“To go into new territories and grow the game is mightily important and to leave a lasting legacy, the inspiration that that Japanese team would have done for millions of people cheering them on… I think nearly half the country watched the Scotland game.
“That is what rugby is all about, trying to grow and build momentum and you have got to try and push into a new market where we haven’t seen before. So 2027, if they choose America or if they decide to come to Ireland, either of them I’m pretty cool with.”
Is O’Driscoll really genuine or just mischievous mentioning his own country as a possible host given he was bid ambassador for the IRFU when they unsuccessfully tried to win the right to host all 48 matches in 2023, a process that tipped the way of France?
“We have to probably look at a different model and sharing games with the UK, with Wales, England and Scotland and not expect to do the whole thing ourselves,” he suggested. “That is maybe the area where we potentially fell down in guaranteeing votes as well.
“There is a lot of politics in sport and maybe we were a little bit naive with the thought we were going to get a World Cup after it going to another new territory in Japan. The obvious choice was to come back to one of the strongholds in South Africa or France, but when it comes around again and we put our hat in the ring I’d be more hopeful that we might get a positive result next time.”
WATCH: RugbyPass went behind the scenes with the Tonga national team as they prepared for the 2019 World Cup in Japan
Comments on RugbyPass
Very unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
2 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to commentsRyan Coxon has been very impressive considering he was signed by WF as injury cover whilst Uru has been a standout for QR, surprised neither of those mentioned
3 Go to commentsIt’s the massive value he brings with regard team culture/values, preparation, etc. Can’t buy that. I’m hoping to see the young locks get their chance in the big games though.
10 Go to commentsAll good, Gregor, except that you neglected to mention Sam Darry amongst that talented pool of locks. In fact, given Hannah’s inexperience and the fact that Holland won’t be eligible until next year, Lord and Darry might be the frontrunners this year, to join Barrett, Tuipoluto, Va’ii and possibly Whitelock. In fact there might be room for all of them if Barrett played 6 (like Ollie Chessum).
10 Go to comments