Eyebrows were raised when it was announced that ITV would be the main broadcaster for the Rugby World Cup in the United Kingdom, and while TV3 were offering an alternative to Irish viewers, those who were watching the opening match of the tournament were left less than impressed by a series of errors.
Firstly, the feed cut to an ad break right before the Fijian 'Cibi', their answer to the 'Haka' (which you can watch here), and that enraged a lot of viewers, then, issues with the placement of the score made it impossible to see for many, then they didn't put a timer on the yellow card so nobody knew when the Fijian player was out of the bin, and finally the commentary team were boring viewers to tears.
The anthems, The Cibi, everyone pumped.....adverts @itv already ruining the Rugby World Cup #RugbyWorldCup #RWC2015
— David Goddard (@DaioGoddard) September 18, 2015
Can't believe Bobby Moore in a red shirt in 1966 has just been mentioned on @ITV #RugbyWorldCup #GetOverIt
— Graham Moore (@Grezza61) September 18, 2015
@ballsdotie They also said people in Fiji will be gathered around the one tv in the village to watch the match
— Erin Leigh Ní Chuinn (@SpasticBlast) September 18, 2015
@bigdannyspencer @WordsFromWez @ITV In the village I live in when in Fiji we have about 6 tv's with solar power thanks...
— Luke Massey (@LMasseyImages) September 18, 2015
Well done ITV. You have just messed up showing the Cibi and instead showed a shot of the England teams arses.
— Chris Whitehead (@TheJarraTorpedo) September 18, 2015
#itv How am I supposed to see what the score is?! Never has this problem before! #RugbyWorldCup #firstworldproblems pic.twitter.com/oCC7fSIJor
— Kathryn Pay (@Elvis4nuts) September 18, 2015
@Lloyd_Rees that's ITV Sport for you!
— Brendan Toomey (@brendantoomey1) September 18, 2015
ITV now have stopped the birds eye view of scrums knowing Marler is boring in.
— Greeno (@Greeno145) September 18, 2015
The adverts on ITV do my head in and the commentators voices could strip paint! Watching the Ingerland on S4C &thank god I can speak Welsh
— Nicola Davies (@NikkiTheJack) September 18, 2015
I wish the ITV comms would STFU when the refs are talking.....and a bit less chat in general would be a bonus! #MissTheBBC
— Pam Nash (@Pam_nAshes) September 18, 2015
@ITV Any chance you could lower the score in the top left of the screen? #RugbyWorldCup
— Andrew Morley (@PoisontheSalt) September 18, 2015
Who's doing the co-commentary on ITV and why does he keep shouting into the microphone? #RWC2015
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) September 18, 2015
ITV will be doing adverts during the TMO soon! Lovely income spinner...
— Morgan Stoddart (@MorganStoddart) September 18, 2015
Hiya @ITV I'm having trouble hearing the commentary on the game tonight as the commentators are so far up the England's team's arse
— Lewis Phillips (@thelewisp) September 18, 2015
Is Nick Mullins the worst commentator ever? @ITV Where's @brianmoore666?? #RWC15
— Marcus Bazley (@mjbazley) September 18, 2015
How biased is the commentary on itv #EnglandvsFiji
— Katharine Bryce (@10katharine10) September 18, 2015
Have to say ITV's commentating is jarringly bias and I am English #RugbyWorldCup
— SolicitingFlavours (@SolicitingFlavo) September 18, 2015
The games tedious and @ITV coverage is worse. #ENGvFIJ #RugbyWC2015
— Paul Johnson (@p1bet) September 18, 2015
And then they are putting out fantastic infographics such as this:
A costly lost lineout http://t.co/PJ7a3JnHWp #ENGvFIJ #RWC2015 pic.twitter.com/6FPcHS6e6Q
— ITV Rugby (@ITVRugby) September 18, 2015
We'll be sticking with TV3, thanks very much.
