How the dream team of ROG, Biggar, Harrison, and Warburton works

The 42

5 days ago

IT TAKES MERE minutes in the company of Sky Sports' three amigos to understand that the fun they've been having on air during this Lions tour is no act.
Sitting with them in the restaurant of their hotel in Melbourne, it's clear that Miles Harrison, Dan Biggar, and Ronan O'Gara have built a happy rapport inside and outside the commentary box.
Biggar and O'Gara's next-level analysis and insights have been unmissable. Harrison, whose voice is synonymous with the Lions, has smoothly guided the pair of legendary former out-halves.
Ex-Wales captain Sam Warburton has completed what is a commentary dream team with his contributions from back at Sky Sports' studios in the UK.
Tomorrow's second Test at the MCG will be the Australian-based crew's final game as a trio, with O'Gara returning to France for pre-season with his La Rochelle side.
So this week was the ideal time to catch up with Harrison, Biggar, and O'Gara to hear how they've made the magic happen.
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Ronan O'Gara: 'I didn't even know I was going to be doing commentary over here'
Miles Harrison: 'I still can't quite believe that.'
ROG: 'Neither can I. Jess has six kids, five and me! I'm used to getting my hand held on a lot of stuff. I was thinking, am I going on this tour or not? The only reason was that I gave my word. And when I give my word to something, that means a lot.
MH: 'You'd gone so well on the last tour and made such an impact that Sky were going to want you back.'
ROG: 'What Lions tour was that?'
MH: '2021. South Africa.'
Dan Biggar: 'Honestly, this is basically a daily occurrence. We're checking up on where ROG is. Has he got a coffee? Has he eaten? Basically, that's half of our job – making sure ROG is fed and watered and in the right place.
'Because I was back in London quite a bit in the weeks leading up to this tour, and I knew I was doing commentary, unlike ROG, Miles and I did a few sessions.
MH: 'We did an old Lions game and then a couple of Super Rugby games.'
DB: 'I think we'd be lying if we didn't say there was room for improvement.'
MH: 'It was raw, but it was full of promise.
DB: 'I didn't know if I would get on this well with ROG… I had an inkling that we would, but you never quite know until you're thrown into that scenario.
'It's helped that we've got on really well. ROG's two boys, Zak and JJ, were out here at the start and I've got my wife and two boys with me. So they basically became unpaid babysitters in the first two weeks of the tour.
'We went out and did golf and go-karts and things like that, so we've bonded in the commentary box and in hotels, airports and things like that as well.
Sky Sports commentator Miles Harrison. INPHO / Dan Sheridan INPHO / Dan Sheridan / Dan Sheridan
MH: 'There was a sense that the chemistry could really work between the two guys. Initially, I think you [O'Gara] were asked to do that sort of regular comment during the game without necessarily being fully part of the commentary team.
'And when we sat up there on night one, the Reds game in Brisbane, that was sort of the intention, but I knew as soon as you started to become involved, that you'd want to speak more.
'We all sort of looked at each other and thought, 'Yeah,' and that was acknowledged back at base from the production side, who were liking what they were hearing.
'The guy who's not around this table is Sam, who's been very much part of the commentary team and in many ways I think we would all say he's sort of underpinned what we've done with world-class analysis.
DB: 'He completes the package.'
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ROG: 'And it gives us a break.'
MH: 'That's been handled really well technically back at base, so it's been quite a powerful tool because Sam's got all the gizmos to be able to compile stuff both not only in studio but also within the game. And he's such a clever rugby thinker and communicator.
'He doesn't waste a word, comes in, talks in all the right places, knows exactly when to finish his point as well to make sure live play's not missed. He's been a real asset.
ROG: 'Poaching is a big part of the game, discipline, penalty count, exiting. Forwards see it differently.
'And that's really good to have because we can't all just say the same thing.'
DB: 'What we've been good at as well – and I think probably matching our personalities as players and ROG now as a coach – is that we're quite happy to not have the same opinion on something.
'I think if every pundit or commentator had the same opinion on things, it'd be a pretty boring show and it would be pretty uneventful. And also, it wouldn't be real because not everyone's got the same opinions on things.
'We haven't been afraid to disagree, or just have different opinions.
MH: 'We said, 'When these disagreements come up, just don't argue.' And I didn't think that was ever going to be the case given the chemistry and the friendship that was already there. Respectful disagreement is such a comfortable thing, it's quite an exciting thing to listen to.
'I think when people start to argue on television, I find that a bit awkward. You're in someone's living room and you don't want to introduce that sort of angst to their life.'
DB: 'We're very fortunate that we've had Miles alongside us as the best in the business for the last… you tell me, Miles.'
MH: 'Easy, easy!'
DB: 'I didn't want to put a number on it! But it gives me confidence to know that, right, if you're losing your way a little bit, you've got a really good guy to fall back on and guide you.
'We're coming from a very high standard of playing and coaching, but we're at the very beginning of this journey compared to Miles. So we're sort of saying, 'Look, you're in charge here and if you think we're talking too much, just tell us to shut up. If you need us to come in more and be more forceful, just tell us. We've come into this with no ego whatsoever.
Sam Warburton provides comments from back in studio in the UK. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo
ROG: 'That's the beauty of it. Miles has a way of operating that we respect. How do I explain this? It's not all kamikaze-style, speak whenever you want. He has very succinct, hidden rules in the commentary box, which is gold.
'So the can of Coke is the red card.
'If he puts the can of Coke up in the air, it's him who will speak.'
MH: 'Well, it was your idea, not mine.'
ROG: 'Because when you're coaching, the least intelligent person in the room needs to understand when you're making points. So for me, just simplify it. Clear and simple.
'For example, at the start, because I've no experience, I didn't appreciate that you need to hear the TMO, so you can't speak when it's TMO time.
'Then when the ball is in action, once or twice, I've been telling stories. And I'm carried away with a good story but this isn't the time for it. And then you get used to it because you only need a little bit of a clip once and then you're kind of back on it.
'Miles has had one mishap on tour. He's had one mistake in one game that I nailed him on!'
MH: 'You looked so happy.'
DB: 'It was Fin Smith.'
ROG: 'And he said Finn Russell.'
MH: 'I said Finn Russell put it into touch, it was Fin Smith.'
DB: 'It was the moment we've been waiting for all tour.'
ROG: 'We pounced!'
MH: 'You were like vultures.'
ROG: 'The two lads are unbelievably professional. You know, I'm absolutely shocked because normally players who retire are in a mourning period, but Dan is onto the next thing.
'My bread and butter is rugby. With all due respect, that's what I care a lot about – coaching. And that's when I'm organised and I have a routine and this was complete bonus territory for me in the fact that another of the reasons I did this was that I'd be able to go and meet rugby league coaches here in Australia.
'The lads are highly prepared but because of what I do, I'm rugby from 7am to 10pm every day, so it's very normal for me. It's what I do. The viewer might think, 'That's very interesting information,' but I've been doing this since the age of 18, which is 30 years.'
MH: 'You chuck in all the stuff that they hear in their headphones, and I think that's the biggest challenge for an ex-player moving into this world of broadcasting. There's so much to listen to.'
DB: 'I remember the first couple of times you've got people talking in your ear and you lose your train of thought, where you're going with things, but now you can just turn them down a little bit. You've got the controls to turn the TMO up, the studio down, Miles down, whatever it is.
'Going back to what ROG said about preparation, it's no surprise that Miles will lock himself away in his room almost for a day or two before games and have preparation done on players, teams, scripts, opening lines. He's not just ad-libbing that stuff, you know what I mean?
'That gives us a really good platform to add our views because he's so polished and so prepared in that area, it gives us a bit of freedom to just ad-hoc it a little bit in terms of what we're seeing on the pitch because he, he's given us such a solid foundation.'
ROG: 'You can only scratch the surface because you could have the family on the couch watching the game, they maybe aren't all rugby nerds, but some people absolutely love it and that's nearly their 'why' in life, being able to go down the pub and talk about the game.'
MH: 'How these guys talk is so accessible. You can always go down the sort of high-falutin' language route, but I just think broadcasters are at their most effective when they talk in language that is accessible.
'They make it very understandable, very accessible, but in doing so, don't alienate who they're really targeting as well, which is the true rugby fan. To do it so early in their broadcasting careers is very, very good.'
Dan Biggar and Ronan O'Gara in Australia. Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
DB: This is part of Miles' life, every four years going on a Lions tour, whereas for me just finishing up this year, I've been a player on the last two Lions tours.
'Somebody sent me a message saying what a way it is to transition, going on a Lions tour with Sky in Australia. I was thinking about how special it actually is.
'I'm probably not at the stage where I'm missing playing quite yet, because I'm so recently finished and I knew it was the right time, but you're fully aware of the surroundings here and the magnitude of what you're calling.
'How many tours is this for you now, Miles?'
MH: 'It's my eighth Lions tour.
'I use this phrase so many times, commentary is instant journalism. Whatever your brain relays to your mouth, it comes out, it's gone, it's said, and there's no editing of live commentary.
'Because you have to be so totally absorbed in the match, you do feel one or two of those little things that players feel. So when players come out of the game, I think commentary is a terrific connection for them, post-game, as is coaching.
'As Dan said, I've been around forever and you get the point where you think, what could possibly be new that could excite you? And this really has excited me.
'We have here a current coach. I think football over the years has used the manager very well, and I don't think rugby has.
'We've got a guy who's just out of the game, literally just out of the game, who's clearly made for broadcasting and has made an unbelievably quick transition into it. And we've got another guy who is still very much in the game, but has the total and utter credibility as a player and as a coach as well, and I think as a combination or as a team that really is what excited me so much.'
DB: 'We have had fun. And that tends to show in work and life, doesn't it?'
MH: 'I knew it would be fun.'
ROG: 'That saying is so apt – if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life.'