RUGBY:Setanta Sports launched their Rugby World Cup 2007 coverage yesterday, and aside from unveiling Eddie O'Sullivan and the former England head coach Andy Robinson as their flagship new signings, they confirmed they would be covering all 48 matches at the finals.
The Ireland head coach has been signed up to provide Setanta viewers "unique insights into the Irish camp", which O'Sullivan hopes will incorporate an exchange of views with members of Setanta's studio panel, while Robinson, assistant coach when England won the World Cup in 2003, will offer his take on England's chances.
Felipe Contepomi will monitor Argentina's progress. Somewhat cheekily, one of Setanta's two main anchors for their World Cup coverage, Daire O'Brien, underlined this would be "both before and after Argentina are knocked out".
Incidentally, adding to the brief description of himself as "Corkman" in the accompanying biogs of Setanta's team, O'Brien described himself as "the heterosexual woman's Tom McGurk".
All 48 games will be broadcast live, beginning with the clash of the host nation, France, and Argentina at 8pm on Friday, September 7th. Ireland's opening game, against Namibia, will be shown live on Setanta Ireland at 7pm on Sunday, September 9th.
Setanta CEO Niall Cogley said, "Mindful that Irish audiences expect a high level of debate we are bringing together some of the most forthright and influential rugby commentators to discuss performance and tactics in a way that has not been attempted before in Irish broadcasting.
"Eddie (O'Sullivan) has agreed to contribute to Setanta's coverage so that our viewers will better understand the decisions and strategies that are being employed on and off the field during Rugby World Cup."
Drawing on his own experiences as a World Cup-winning coach, Robinson said Ireland "should concentrate their focus on themselves, on what Ireland can do, and ignore all the talk of other teams".
The theme was duly taken up by O'Sullivan: "I think there's a lot of expectation outside the camp, which by and large has been created by the media, but I think that expectation has been very much based on our form over the last few years, which has been very good. As a team and a coach, that's the kind of expectation you want to create.
"With that comes pressure, and Andy's advice is very well founded. In these situations you've got to concentrate on the aspects of the World Cup we can control, which are our own performances."
Jeremy Staunton has also been signed to Setanta's team of analysts for the finals. He will join the main anchors, O'Brien and Paul Dempsey, as well as pundits Ciarán Fitzgerald, Matt Williams, Reggie Corrigan, Liam Toland, Neil Francis and Emmet Byrne.
Setanta's blanket coverage is symptomatic of the burgeoning of rugby as a spectator/viewer sport, and forecasting that this "could be a great World Cup", O'Sullivan also conceded, "The whole landscape around the game has changed. Remember rugby has only been a professional game for a little over 10 years and it's been a very steep learning curve for everybody - for administrators, players, the unions, the media and anybody involved in the game.
"One thought that struck me in recent years and is a giveaway as to where rugby is in the public domain - if you look, the rugby jersey has become a fashion item.
"You go into any supermarket or shopping mall in Ireland and you'll find somebody wearing a rugby jersey. It may not be an Irish, Leinster or Munster jersey. It could be the Wellington Hurricanes, and they were probably never in Wellington or in a hurricane either.
"But that's the way the game has developed and that has come through rugby's exposure in the media."
Robinson noted that rugby is "a complicated game to play and to watch", and added, "The more exposure it gets the better-educated the viewer will be, and through that education people get to see what a great game it is."
Out of little acorns and all that. Setanta Ireland CEO Niall Cogley recalled Setanta's humble beginnings three years ago, when an Aston Villa match was augmented merely by some Scottish football and the Celtic League, as it was then, and illustrated its growth by citing the schedule for September 15th next.
"I could have picked any Saturday in September but on that day we will be showing three World Cup matches (New Zealand v Portugal, Wales v Australia and Ireland v Georgia) as well as the Irish Derby, Sunderland v Reading in the Premiership and Chelsea v Blackburn and the climax of the Fedex Cup on our three main channels," he said. "That is a measure of the distance we've travelled in the last three years.
"The theme of our rugby World Cup coverage will be experience and innovation," added Cogley, pointing to some of those assembled in yesterday's gathering at Setanta's headquarters in Dublin city centre.
Setanta's team for the Rugby World Cup finals comprises Daire O'Brien, anchor; Paul Dempsey, anchor; Eddie O'Sullivan, Ireland coach; Paul O'Connell, Setanta Sports rugby ambassador; Andy Robinson, coach; Felipe Contepomi, Argentina outhalf; Connor Morris; Fred Cogley; Mark Robson; Nigel Starmer-Smith; Emmett Byrne; Ciarán Fitzgerald; Donal Lenihan; Neil Francis; Liam Toland; Matt Williams; Reggie Corrigan; Tyrone Howe; Peter McKenna; John Robbie; Craig Chalmers; Tony Clement; Jeremy Staunton.
