Its on in the morning (saturday) at 10 o clock.

This letter is posted on Premier Sports Web Site, don't see why it would be there unless they are going to show the games on Virgin Media.....

MP's call for Virgin Media to add Premier Sports
04/10/2013

Rugby League World Cup 2013 on Premier Sports

I write on behalf of the Parliamentary Rugby League Group, a body comprising over 70 Members of Parliament from both Houses and all parties celebrating its 25th Anniversary in 2013.

For some time, the Group has been aware of the lack of ability to view Championship rugby league on the Virgin Media platform via the broadcaster Premier Sport. Whilst we feel this is a significant oversight on behalf of Virgin Media, the matter needs to be addressed as we approach the 2013 Rugby League World Cup.

Rugby league is one of the UK’s biggest sports, and to not have its world championships available to as wide an audience as possible in the host nation is lamentable. Not only that, the Rugby League World Cup will be the UK’s first multi-national tournament since the 2012 Olympics and is one of the five major world sporting events taking place in the UK this decade.

We note that the channel has been running since August 2010 and, over three years later, no agreement has taken place despite it showing content of relevance to UK audiences, particularly in the north of England where Virgin Media’s market share is, we understand, at its highest. We note also that BT Sport was made available to Virgin XL customers over a matter of days.

Looking at Virgin Media’s own online forums, there have been calls to provide Premier Sport across your platform for some time. We therefore find it difficult to imagine a solution cannot be found, particularly as we understand that Virgin Media is strongest in the north of England, the heartlands of rugby league.

Like our constituents, Members of the Parliamentary Rugby League Group are fans of the sport, and we share their unhappiness that games are not available to watch. We recognise there are commercial aspects that need to be addressed but feel this is an error. We therefore encourage both sides to come to an agreement as soon as possible, in good time to show RLWC13.

Kind regards,

Greg Mulholland MP

Chairman

All-Party Parliamentary Rugby League Group.

The "History of Rugby League" has been on for most of the morning!!!

Good to see shaun edwards on the coverage i think ill be giving the bbc a miss

What a breath of fresh air the commentary team was, no intrusive ramblings about England internationals or that should have been a penalty etc etc - wonderful!
I'm only surprised Blarney hasn't managed to worm his way into their set up as he gets everywhere else

Yeah, i agree.... it was a great threesome commentary team. wasnt that Voss the man that done the footy show?

Enjoyed watching the game and not getting annoyed by pish..! the wales italy game on the other hand

Yeah he was Channel 9's second commentator after Ray Warren from the late 90s until a couple of years ago. Some fallout saw him first demoted to regional games in Queensland before he left. He was doing NZ Warriors games for Sky New Zealand last season with Daryl Halligan who was part of todays team on Premier.

Voss will be doing around 13 games for Premier over the tournament, so will be on quite often.

I just signed up for a months subscription to Premier for the World Cup, been really impressed with Voss' enthusiasm and knowledge. The NZ/Samoa game was the highlight of the weekend, the kind of game you only see during a World Cup and the commentary reflected the party atmosphere. That one alone was worth the tenner subscription fee.

What a shame that the NZ - Samoa game wasn't on BBC for the general public to watch. A really good showing in evey aspect and likely to be the game of the tournament. The atmosphere in the second half was incredible.

always the sceptic (its my nature) , but im well impressed by the coverage, and the games. PNG - Kiwis was enthralling, I'm certainly going to watch more games and its really got me into the spirit of the WC.

ps. I kept having flashbacks about how the sky clowns might have sounded on commentary...and guess what? i just thanked the lord that they were nowhere to be seen (or heard)

Wishful thinking PREMIER takes over from SKY when contract finishes what a great channel for RL .

The bbc coverage of the world cup is disgusting and laughable, even the highlights show is on at midnight



The commentary on the bbc is also terrible, i will be watching all game son premier sports regardless if they are on the bbc as the coverage is so much better on premier sports

Think we should start a Voss for Sky campaign.

How refreshing was it to hear a good commentator?

Spot on the guy's enthusiasm would make a poor game sound great....

Sky should get him signed up and dump wiggy

He doesnt just say thing for the sake of it, hes a quality commentator

He's not just a slick commentator, he was genuinely funny during the NZ/Samoa game and his comments added to what was already an enjoyable match.

It makes such a difference to how the game comes across, especially for the neutral I'd imagine.

Not had a decent Aussie commentator since Tulsen Tollett..............

Get him signed

I noticed I also have BT Sports 1&2 and in HD which I didn't know about.... I assume i'm being charged for it without my knowledge as well. Serves me right!

If you have the XL package, BT Sport, ESPN and Premier Sports are free

Bt sports are currently freeview like Premier, I dunno if it is just for the month of october. I'm on the free minimum package with virgin and only noticed BT sports was free when I looked for Premier sports.

The commentary was excellent... Mainly because it was COMMENTARY, not two blokes, in safe seats, filled with their own self importance, talking total because they have gotten away with it for far far too long...

Branson paid a few hundred million for BT sports, been on since about 5th August for free.

I agree the premier commentary was great, knowledgable, enthusiastic, funny and he managed a pint! A pie! and a game of darts.
IMO this thread is unfair on Eddie and Steve, it's like comparing real broad sheet journalism to a Tabloid reporter. Eddie and Steve are employed to entertain and make up stories for a viewing audience that aren't RL fans.(see american sports reporting formula= 2 tanned bland suits not ment to offend) Sky don't care about us, we will pay for it anyway

So, so refreshing to have great commentary.

Eddie and Stevo should be embarrassed with themselves.

In a dream world, Voss would replace Hemmings next year and be paired with Brian Carney.

I agree Voss is excellent. I particularly liked how informative he was about Warrington and the HJ. He was commentating to the world, whereas Sky or BBC commentate to a UK audience and assume all viewers are up to speed, if that makes sense. However, I would be happy never to hear Carney's voice ever again! I can't stand the way he talks through an entire set of plays. He's not the only culprit, though. It seems to be the style of commentating over here.