{"id":361910,"date":"2025-08-21T11:27:16","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T11:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/361910\/"},"modified":"2025-08-21T11:27:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T11:27:16","slug":"dan-biggar-and-ronan-ogara-have-moved-punditry-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/361910\/","title":{"rendered":"Dan Biggar and Ronan O\u2019Gara have moved punditry forward"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rugby changes. At warp speed. It changes faster than Superman after three double espresso\u2019s and a couple of Adderall \u2013\u00a0 if local chemists stock that in Metropolis. Just look at Australia. Twelve weeks ago, the sport had largely written off their chances of competing with the British & Irish Lions. Twleve weeks hence, they took the Lions<\/a> all the way before annihilating the Springboks at Ellis Park.<\/p>\n

Newcastle Red Bulls (formerly Falcons) are another great example of the rapidity of change in rugby. Four months ago, rugby\u2019s vultures were circling the Falcons, looking for which wing to rip off the carrion. Now, and wonderfully so for their supporters and staff, they\u2019re buying more swag than a 13-year-old who has just discovered his parents\u2019 Amazon password.<\/p>\n

But, there\u2019s another aspect of the game that regularly changes, yet receives very little attention when it does \u2013 and that\u2019s rugby punditry. Both Dan Biggar<\/a> and Ronan O\u2019Gara were game changing as part of Sky\u2019s Lions\u2019 coverage this summer and seemed to draw a line in the sand from what we now expect from rugby pundits.<\/p>\n

But before we go much further, we must be clear what we\u2019re talking about when we\u2019re discussing rugby punditry. Whilst they\u2019re in the same booth\/row of seats, the rugby pundit and rugby commentator are very different roles.<\/p>\n

\"SkyRugby punditry has come a long way since the advent of professionalism with Sky Sports entering the market with Jamie Salmon<\/a>, Stuart Barnes and Miles Harrison Pic Credit (John Gichigi\/ALLSPORT)<\/p>\n

Rugby commentary has always been of a high and consistent standard. Whether it\u2019s on radio, TV or more recently online, the rugby commentary bar has remained very high. This consistency of performance\/product arguably comes from the fact that many of those involved have had the same base training. The majority are former writers, journalists and broadcasters \u2013 not former players. The high level of quality in rugby commentary is equally the result of there being so few jobs available in the industry. There are probably only ten spots available for major rugby commentators on the major channels in the UK and Ireland. So, if you aren\u2019t of the required standard, then you simply don\u2019t make the cut.<\/p>\n

It also helps that rugby commentators, as people and personalities, don\u2019t tend to \u2018date\u2019 that quickly. Unlike former high-level players, which most commentators aren\u2019t, they don\u2019t tend to go out of fashion \u2013 they\u2019re like denim in that regard. Indeed, over years, with familiarity, their voices mature and they become an essential staple of the armchair enthusiast\u2019s experience.<\/p>\n

\n

In the amateur era, when rugby itself was a game with less strategy and detail, then so too was the punditry. Up until the mid-1990\u2019s most rugby punditry involved just saying \u201cwhich team wanted it more\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The role of the commentator has also changed very little. Yes, there are more stats to introduce and TMO interventions to communicate etc., but the core role of the commentator has always been to describe what is happening at that moment. It doesn\u2019t matter whether you\u2019re listening to (in the UK and Ireland) Bill McLaren, Miles Harrison, Nick Mullins, Ryle Nugent or the newer generation of commentators like Jamie Lyall and Claire Thomas, rugby commentary has always, and will always, focus on describing the action as it happens.<\/p>\n

But whilst the role and output of the commentator has changed little, that isn\u2019t the case with rugby punditry. Rugby punditry changes far more rapidly and distinctly. It almost falls into distinct eras and epochs.<\/p>\n

In the amateur era, when rugby itself was a game with less strategy and detail, then so too was the punditry. Up until the mid-1990\u2019s most rugby punditry involved just saying \u201cwhich team wanted it more\u201d. If you listen to virtually every game, pre professionalism, rugby success had little or nothing to do with lineout completions or defensive stats \u2013 results were dictated by which players had the biggest hearts. (That is a metaphor, not a reference to steroid abuse).<\/p>\n

\"AlanWhile commentary has stayed largely the same, the role of the pundit has undergone a revolution (Photo Brendan Moran\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

With the professional era came stats and as a result so did the new pundits. Players who had been fed a diet of rugby statistics during their careers, now felt comfortable passing that knowledge onto the viewers\/listeners. Almost overnight you had a new generation of pundits who were comfortable talking about possession and territory. Prior to this point if you\u2019d mentioned possession and territory many pundits would assume you were either talking about the negatives of empire building or the difficulties of drug dealing.<\/p>\n

In the mid to late 2010\u2019s there came another seismic shift in rugby punditry, in that playing the game at a high level was no longer enough \u2013 you needed to be able to explain it. Prior to this point, winning a Rugby World Cup, or a Heineken Cup was often enough to get you a few gigs on TV \u2013 rugby punters now wanted more from their pundits. It ushered in a new generation of pundits who not only walked the walk, but were able to explain the walk, via talk. Pundits like Sam Warburton in particular brought a new level of detail and explanation that the modern viewer demanded.<\/p>\n

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Dan Biggar and Ronan O\u2019Gara ushered in a new era of punditry in the summer of 2025. Up until this point, live rugby punditry had largely involved describing incidents that had just happened. They started telling us what was going to happen in the next 30 seconds, not the last.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Perhaps the greatest change that came in this era of punditry was that many supporters would rather listen to a non-former player, who knew what they were talking about, than listen to a very successful player who didn\u2019t. Channels such as Squidge Rugby changed the definition of a pundit and opened up a new world of punditry for the rugby public.<\/p>\n

It is in this vein with which both Dan Biggar and Ronan O\u2019Gara ushered in a new era of punditry in the summer of 2025. Up until this point, live rugby punditry had largely involved describing incidents that had just happened. Pundits focused on what happened 30 seconds ago. For many pundits that is literally their role, describing whatever replay is being shown on the screen. But Biggar and O\u2019Gara did something completely different. They started telling us what was going to happen in the next 30 seconds, not the last.<\/p>\n

\"SamEXETER, ENGLAND Sam Warburton has introduced a new level of detail to the listener\u2019s experience (Photo Ryan Hiscott\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

To listen to them both accurately calling exactly which type of play was about to take place felt new for rugby. They described the position of players, the depth of ball carriers and then in turn what move would likely happen next. It may be that it\u2019s because both are former outside halves and therefore are able to identify \u2018shapes\u2019 more quickly than other pundits who played in the pack? Or it may be that they are both hyper competitive individuals and just wanted to get one up on the other. But either way, Biggar and O\u2019Gara have done what all great players and pundits do, move the game forward. Well played Mr. Biggar and O\u2019Gara.<\/p>\n

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