Six Nations 2012 live on the BBC & S4C

January 25, 2012   ·   3 Comments

The BBC will bring viewers all the action from the 2012 RBS 6 Nations, offering comprehensive multiplatform coverage of the entire Championship.

Live coverage starts on Saturday 4 February, with France v Italy (k/o 1430) and Scotland v England (k/o 1700) – both matches will be screened on BBC One and BBC One HD.

Every game of the tournament will be shown live on BBC One and BBC One HD apart from France v Ireland (11 February) and Scotland v France (26 February), which will be broadcast on BBC Two and BBC HD. All matches will also be live on Radio 5 live or 5 live sports extra, streamed live on BBC Sport website and will be available on BBC iPlayer for up to a week after the live fixture.

John Inverdale returns to present the BBC’s TV coverage, along with Gabby Logan and Jason Mohammed. Commentary comes from Eddie Butler, Andrew Cotter and Alastair Eykyn, with Jonathan Davies, Phillip Matthews, Brian Moore and Andy Nicol as co-commentators. The pitchside reporting team includes Jill Douglas, Sonja McLaughlan and Graham Thomas.

Wales rugby legend Shane Williams joins the BBC team this year and will be offering expert insight and analysis on three of Wales’ matches. Williams joins a line-up of expert analysts including Jonathan Davies, Jeremy Guscott, Andy Nicol, Keith Wood and Lawrence Dallaglio.

The BBC will also follow the women’s Six Nations with news and highlights online, including live coverage on the red button of England v Wales on 25 February.

BBC Six Nations Rugby Union editor, Carl Hicks says: “We’re proud to once again bring all the action from the oldest and most-famous international rugby union tournament in the world and we’re delighted to have signed a new rights agreement to broadcast the event through to 2017. Last year over 32 million people tuned in to the tournament, which shows how much audiences across the UK love the Six Nations as it continues to excite and entertain.

The BBC Sport website and BBC Red Button offer a host of content including all matches streamed live, with alternative audio options available. There will also be live post match forums following selected matches.

A 45 mins highlights programme (also shown on BBC Two, Sunday nights) will be available post-match, replayed on the red button and also available on the BBC iPlayer.

BBC Cymru Wales

BBC Cymru Wales TV, radio and online will have extensive coverage of the tournament. Shane Williams joins the team for BBC Wales’ coverage on S4C for the Ireland v Wales and England v Wales games. Shane will also be one of the team of pundits for the Scrum V Six Nations Specials on BBC One Wales presented by Jason Mohammad. There will be a special Scrum V Preview ahead of the tournament plus a one-off documentary looking back at Shane Williams’ career. A series of Scrum V Classics look back at a number of classic Wales games from previous years.

S4C Coverage

Welsh broadcaster S4C will screen every Wales match live along with special programming including a portrayal of Bayonne, Wales and Lions scrum-half Mike Phillips.  The programme entitled Mike Phillips 009 will be broadcast on Thursday 2 February and includes a series of exclusive interviews with Phillips as he talks openly about his new life on the continent and his hopes for his rugby career.

Jonathan Davies returns to S4C for a new series of ‘Jonathan’ with Nigel Owens and Sarra Elgan on Friday nights at 9.30pm from 3 February. The first programme promises to bring laughs galore, physical challenges and hilarious banter as Wales prepare for their first match of the campaign, against Ireland.

“There will be plenty of excitement surrounding this game. Ireland will be seeking revenge after Wales beat them in the Rugby World Cup quarter finals in October and the Welsh team will be out to prove their success in the competition wasn’t a fluke,” says presenter Sarra Elgan.

“Of course Shane Williams (now retired from international rugby) will be missed tremendously. Not only will the team miss his experience and reliable presence on the field – but his personality and character off the field, too.

“But the team is full of young, enthusiastic lads, and although the players and supporters will miss Shane’s magic – these boys are the future and they’ll want to prove that Welsh rugby is safe in their hands,” added Sarra.

S4C 6 Nations Rugby Trailer

Full RBS 6 Nations Match Schedule

Home	Away	Date	Kick Off	Venue
France	Italy	Saturday 4th February 2012	14:30	Stade de France, Paris
Scotland	England	Saturday 4th February 2012	17:00	Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Ireland	Wales	Sunday 5th February 2012	15:00	Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Italy	England	Saturday 11th February 2012	16:00	Stadio Flaminio, Rome
France	Ireland	Saturday 11th February 2012	20:00	Stade de France, Paris
Wales	Scotland	Sunday 12th February 2012	15:00	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Ireland	Italy	Saturday 25th February 2012	13:30	Aviva Stadium, Dublin
England	Wales	Saturday 25th February 2012	16:00	Twickenham, Stadium, London
Scotland	France	Sunday 26th February 2012	15:00	Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Wales	Italy	Saturday 10th March 2012	14:30	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Ireland	Scotland	Saturday 10th March 2012	17:00	Aviva Stadium, Dublin
France	England	Sunday 11th March 2012	15:00	Stade de France, Paris
Italy	Scotland	Saturday 17th March 2012	12:30	Stadio Flaminio, Rome
Wales	France	Saturday 17th March 2012	14:45	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
England	Ireland	Saturday 17th March 2012	17:00	Twickenham, Stadium, London

Tags: Andy Nicol, BBC, Brian Moore, Eddie Butler, Gabby Logan, Jason Mohammed, Jill Douglas, John Inverdale, Jonathan Davies, RBS 6 Nations, Shane Williams, Six Nations