Favourite Rugby Pundit (POLL)

Kev37

Just wondering?

(Irish pundit that is!)

BoarHunter

Brent pope is never objective in what he says. He is there to make people believing stuff.

just to laugh just listen to him before and after France-ireland :rolleyes:

George Hook is always critic but is very knowledgeable about the game and he won't try to make you swallow some dry cake ...

Blut2

Of the writers I quite enjoy Bob Casey's columns, he seems to have intelligent views and provides the odd insight into the life of a professional player thats quite cool. Provides a different viewpoint to Thornley et al

Of the tv pundits Hook's by far the most entertaining but Conor O'Shea seems to have a lot more cop on and more reasonable opinions.

Overall ummm..I'll go with O'Shea.

Judgement Day

I went with Conor O'Shea as he seems to have the pulse of things and knows the game today and the players. Popey and Hook are entertaining but leave the more balanced comments for Conor O'Shea.

No room for Ryle Nugent, George Hamilton, Fred Cogley, or Tom McGurk in your poll - just kidding!

Peter B

Enjoy Conor O'Shea, Brent Pope and Paul Wallace.

Popey has to top it though!

thomond2006

Conor O'Shea followed by Liam Toland.

Matt Williams is pretty good on Setanta too.

Paparazzo

The JT for me, how can you vote against someone with such rugged good looks?
Seriously though, I love reading his stuff, nothing better than getting The Times and reading his article in the pub over a guinness before you meet a few of the lads for the match.
Tony Ward is terrible, I read it every now and again to confirm how bad it is.
I like listening to Denis Hickie on the radio, I'd love him to be on the RTE panel.

funky penguin

Wish this was multiple choice....

Enjoy reading GT, listening to O'Shea.

Toland is a close second for both. Never heard Hickie do anything.

Risteard

Voted O'Shea but I think Emmet Byrne on Setanta is good as well.

Podge_irl

Thoroughly enjoy Casey's IT articles. Emmet Byrne is generally my favourite TV pundit, though of those listed I've grown quite fond of Toland.

Gelio

Thank god Steven Jones isn't on the poll, if I found out anyone who voted for him I would hunt down and kill them

irishbucsfan

Two people voted for Neil Francis.

That shatters my entire universe

thomond2006

Oi! Where's Kevin Myers in the poll?

myflipflops

thomond2006 wrote: »

followed by Liam Toland.
.

Liam Toland plummeted in my estimation when his piece in the Times before the Ireland-France game in 2009 stated that ireland could afford to take a back rower (David Wallace specifically) out of the scrum when attacking and put Paddy Wallace there to pack down. The idea was that David Wallace could then take crash ball up. For a former back row forward himself, it was just a shocking piece.

In a piece about same time, he had written about how poor xavier rush had been for Cardiff since his arrival. It showed how little Magners League he must have been watching as Rush had been consistantly excellent for Cardiff since his arrival

Also, his previous tendency to finish articles with little personal 'shout outs' used to annoy me.

I picked Conor O'Shea too as he always seems to be quite impartial and brings a perspective that comes from spending so mush of his career outside the goldfish bowl of Irish rugby.

In fairnesss i haven't gotten to read him very much in the last 6 months since I've been abroad.

myflipflops

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Two people voted for Neil Francis.

That shatters my entire universe

In fairness, the poll asks for someones 'favorite pundit', not who you necessarily think is the best pundit.

Whatever else about the 'ruck inspector', he doesn't sit on the fence and can be entertaining.

His off hand dismissal of Jamie Roberts as bascially an average rugby player a couple of weeks ago is further evidence that he's not to be taken too seriously.

Sundy

Risteard wrote: »

Voted O'Shea but I think Emmet Byrne on Setanta is good as well.

Emmet Byrne for me too

Unbiased, can read the game very well and understands the laws. A few areas where alot of other pundits fail.

corny

Don't see Ciaran Fitzgeralds name there but always find he gives a balanced perspective on Setanta. George Hook is good for a laugh too but that has to be tempered by that egotist McGurk asking the questions.

Luckycharm

Emmet byrne for me he is very technical which I like.
COnor O'Shea sits on the fence too much for me - does not really critcise when he should probally due to him working in the GP.

chimchimney

for serious analysis, i think matt williams is the best and emmet byrne is well up there. conor o shea has the best offerings on rte.

i like the way hook pays heed to the classic fundamentals of the game, the game for all shapes and sizes etc. im tiring of the rte coverage though as i feel the banter this season descended several times into bitter hostility between hook and pope. they could do with seating o'shea in between them!

as regards presenters, i think daire o'brian on setanta tries to come across real knowledgable, but its a bit forced. he should take a leaf out of bill o'herlihys book, and let the experts do their job instead of doing it for them.

Aidric

1 vote for Hugh Farrely, lol. Shame this isn't a public poll to see who cast that one.