BBC Sport announce RBS Six Nations 2014 coverage
The 2014 RBS Six Nations kicks off on Saturday 1st of February with BBC Sport bringing coverage of the tournament across TV, radio, online and mobile.
Coverage on the corporation of last year’s tournament was watched by 24.5m viewers, with a peak of 9.4m tuning in for the deciding game between Wales and England. The average audience for the live coverage was 5.1m, the highest ever recorded in Six Nations history the beeb note.
Every game of this year’s tournament will be shown on BBC One and BBC One HD with live coverage starting on the opening day as Wales take on Italy and France face England. Matches will also be covered live on Radio 5 live or 5 live sports extra.
New for 2014, British and Irish Lions and Scotland legend Sir Ian McGeechan joins the BBC television team, bringing his wealth of expertise gained as both a player and a coach. – BBC Sport
He joins the established team of experts, including another of rugby union’s knights – Sir Clive Woodward, plus Jonathan Davies, Jeremy Guscott, Andy Nicol, Brian Moore, Keith Wood, Martyn Williams, Chris Paterson, Shane Williams, Phillip Matthews and Thomas Castaignede and on Radio 5 live, Matt Dawson, Gavin Hastings, Rob Jones and Denis Hickie
John Inverdale presents the BBC’s TV coverage, along with Gabby Logan, Jason Mohammed and Ross Harries. Commentary comes from Eddie Butler and Andrew Cotter. Jill Douglas and Sonja McLaughlan lead the pitch-side reporting. On Radio 5 live, Ian Robertson leads the commentary team joined by Alastair Eykyn, Conor McNamara, Iain Carter and Gareth Lewis.
The BBC News Channel will broadcast a special preview programme, Inside 6 Nations, before each weekend of the tournament, featuring interviews and the latest news and analysis.
Live coverage of the Women’s Six Nations featuring England v Ireland with commentary from Sara Orchard will be available on the Red Button with live video streams available on the BBC Sport website.
Commentary of England v Ireland and England v Wales will also be available on 5 live sports extra with the full story of the women’s tournament including news and highlights being reported across the BBC Sport website.
As we look forward to the first major sporting event of 2014, the Six Nations kicks off what is certain to be a fantastic year for BBC Sport. I am delighted that the BBC will once again deliver an event that unites the nation and thrills audiences of all ages and hope that rugby’s biggest annual competition continues to grow even more popular. – Barbara Slater, Director BBC Sport
