The art of rugby commentary, according to the man who has perfected it

Telegraph

3 days ago

Miles Harrison cannot remember the words he used to describe Hugo Keenan's last-gasp try that sealed the series-winning victory over Australia in Melbourne last Saturday. But what stays with him was the silence that followed in the Sky Sports commentary box.
'I knew then it was time to shut up,' recalls Harrison, fondly regarded as 'The Voice of the Lions' having been the lead commentator for Sky since they acquired the rights for the 1997 tour of South Africa. 'The cameras panned around the stadium and as a viewer in those situations, all you want is to be able to hear the reaction of the crowd.'
Harrison turned to his two co-commentators, Ronan O'Gara and Dan Biggar, to signal that they should do the same. The chemistry and dialogue between the pair, along with insightful contributions from Sam Warburton from the studio back in London, has been one of the highlights of the tour for the viewers back in the UK and Ireland.
Up until that point, Harrison admits to having had to adopt a 'parenting' role between O'Gara and Biggar, two rookies to the world of broadcasting, who at times have offered contradicting opinions and had to find their way under the extreme pressure of presenting live amid the cacophony of near-full stadiums.
Yet in the seconds that followed Keenan's try, and the deliriously raucous reaction of the crowd of more than 90,000 in the MCG, Harrison knew that the pair no longer needed him as a father figure.
HUGO KEENAN WINS IT FOR THE LIONS! 🦁 pic.twitter.com/FX9bX2Jylh
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) July 26, 2025
'As I looked around, I just saw two broadcasters sitting with their microphones down, watching the crowd,' adds Harrison. 'That makes me feel a little bit emotional, because that's the journey we've been on as a commentary team, to get to that point where I knew they got it, they totally got it.'
Harrison admits to having been on his own broadcasting journey since he called his first tour as a 30-year-old back in 1997, when the Sky team sent to South Africa consisted of just himself and Stuart Barnes, the former England and Lions fly-half, with Graham Simmons as the news reporter, while the rest of the production team were based in London.
'Back in the day, Stuart used to say: 'You're my scrum-half. You get the ball out for me'. I love that analogy. I would do the 'what's happening' and 'what might be happening' journalistically, and where the debate should be going. And the expert then did the 'why' and Stuart was brilliant at it.'
Harrison kept a diary throughout that tour, which culminated in a famous 2-1 victory over South Africa, and says he read back through it before heading to Australia, determined to reconnect with the exuberance and excitement of his rookie days as a commentator.
Having missed all but the final Test of the last tour as he recovered from bowel cancer, that reconnection was also about ensuring that he enjoyed and savoured every minute of this tour.
'The way we prepare for games has changed remarkably,' he reflects. 'The information sources are now endless. Back in '97, because of the lack of information and access to it, viewers and listeners almost waited for the television or radio commentator to give them the information because we are on the inside.
'We would attend training and find out about players. There were no club or province websites to go to for pen pics [headshots]. It was about word of mouth and written word from all sorts of local journalistic sources or media officers. It was very rudimentary, very basic.
'Now it has become so sophisticated, and, quite frankly, the audience has become so knowledgeable and sophisticated in knowing their stuff.'
Harrison now spends most of the week gathering information for his match notes, which he will compile the night before the match.
'I've always been a handwritten learner, because I'd like to think that everything I've written down goes in there,' he says, tapping his head. 'The key thing is not to look at your sheet but always to look at the game or the monitor, because if you're looking down at your sheet, you're missing stuff.
'You don't use very much of it. You just don't know which bits you're going to use or what themes they're going to spark and strands within the commentary.
'In the early years, in broadest terms, it was about knowing the height, weight, age and caps. You still have to have all of those things, but now journalistically I am trying to capture where every player is at, what's been their particular story that week. That can change week by week on a tour like this.'
The radical change for this tour was the decision to increase the number of voices and bring in the expertise of O'Gara as a coach, and Biggar the player, as well as Warburton's interjections. That results in Harrison having to adopt a managerial role to ensure that the voices do not overlap or get in the way of the game.
'It is not about me,' he adds. 'It's about getting the very best out of the two co-commentators, in our case, and on this tour three, because Sam's been interjecting from London with his brilliant comments as well, and to enable them to flourish as broadcasters.'
Harrison's emotion at seeing their professional response to the Keenan try reflected he feels both Biggar and O'Gara have taken to their roles. 'I had worked with Sam before and he is an unbelievably effective communicator,' he adds. 'I can't think of anybody who's come out of playing the game who so immediately became such a wonderful broadcaster at such a high level, so quickly.
Sam Warburton breaks down THAT dramatic final play 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/EK1wztWL88
— Sky Sports Rugby Union (@SkySportsRugby) July 26, 2025
'Back in the spring, we did three practice games in Sky with Dan, doing an old Lions versus Australia game and two Super Rugby games from this season. Even though it was quite raw, he very quickly got up to speed and by the third game, I knew he would be ready.
'I remember on the 2001 Lions tour seeing Rog [O'Gara] in the foyer of a hotel and he was a bit down because selection had not gone the way he wanted. Stuart and I went over to him and we chatted and, at the end of the conversation, we said to him: 'When you finish this, you will be one hell of a broadcaster.'
'I messaged him when I heard he was going to work with us and told him I had been waiting years for this. I just knew he would bring something really special. I saw a lot of Stuart in him.'
What has made the coverage so compelling is hearing O'Gara and Biggar at times take issue with the other's opinion. 'I knew there was going to be disagreement because it was already happening all the time in the bar,' adds Harrison.
'I said to them that it was pretty obvious that they were going to see life differently at times, but said we should do it in a way that respects the viewer. I like disagreement in sport, I think we all do. It is quite an inclusive thing as well to hear ex-players disagree because it almost validates your own view. Coming at different angles is the beauty of our sport, but it was important not to argue, because I can't stand arguing on the telly.
'On Saturday, I said in the commentary: 'Viewer, I wish you could see their eyes'. I turned to my right, and they were just scanning, I mean, ferociously. Their eyes were looking up and down, up and down, in and out, up and down, the concentration levels were crazy.
'And then you hear things like Rog did on the Tom Wright try by anticipating where the space was. It was a brilliant piece of commentary. Brilliant interjection. Dan does the same: scan, scan, scan.'
O'Gara was initially wary that, given the magnitude of the games, he would talk too much or talk over referees. 'He wanted me to show him a red card if I felt he was,' Harrison adds. 'I remember when we got to Canberra he said he was going out to buy some red card to cut up. But finding a bit of red card was not an easy thing to do so instead at the next game, we found some cans of Coca-Cola left for us in the commentary box and we decided to use that. Rog said to me to hold up the can if I thought he should stop speaking.
'That was my initial challenge with the boys, to make sure there was enough space and enough quiet from us to allow the noise of the games to be heard. It was like a coaching tool.
'But we didn't need that can of Coke on Saturday. And I just felt so proud of them both and where we've got to as a team. It was a very, very satisfying moment.'
Sky Sports is the ultimate home of British & Irish Lions this summer. The action continues on Saturday, August 2, with the third Test against the Wallabies, live from Sydney, only on Sky Sports or available to stream via NOW.