In rare praise of the sky commentary team, I thought it was 100% better with Brian Carney in the commentary box last night. I've always thought he's a bit wooden as a presenter, but excellent when talking about the game.

It was good to hear a voice that won't simply tow the line. He's the only one on the sky team that isn't afraid to be critical, I found myself pleasantly surprised to hear him call out the level of gamesmanship (or cheating as it used to be called) in the sport at present. On the rare occasions he does commentate, he's not afraid to critcise the skill or product where justified.

It's so frustrating that they have articulate, knowledgable pundits like him and Tony Rea on their books that they never use. Instead we have to put up with O Connor, who seemingly thinks that every player and match no matter how average or mundane is magnificent and McDermott, who can't make a point in less than 60 seconds or refrain from explaining the same thing but in three different ways, usually leading to him trailing off or getting tongue-tied.

I'm not a huge fan of American football but with the scores of commentators that they employ it does stir up an interest in me and I seem to find myself understanding what they are talking about, even though I don't. I think that the university education that all the players receive now (is it from scholarships?) along with media training it really does help them charm and engage the viewer. In fact, compared to any UK Sky sports commentary they seem to keep on raising the bar.

All of a sudden O'Connor says "all of a sudden".

Eddie has been calling “40-20 attempt” when the ball is kicked on the last tackle inside the 40. Does my nutt in.

“Great defence from Wigan”

A try.

It's even worse when they're bored!