One of the features from the NZ vs South Africa test match a few weeks back was some shocking commentary mixups from Grant Nisbett. During that match I counted at least 4 instances where he got players mixed up or utterly wrong during his calling of the match. The best one was when he credited a run to Joe Rokocoko who wasn’t even in the squad due to a 6 month layoff recovering from surgery.
It seems that we’re in for a repeat performance this week in the New Zealand vs Australia match. So far he’s managed to confuse Kaino with Tuitivake, Ellis with Braid, and then crediting Ryan Cross with a second try when in fact it was Peter Hynes – and that’s just the list from the first half.
Is there really a place in top level rugby commentary for someone who can’t tell players apart? Or is this highlighting a requirement for the Sky TV booth to get a bigger TV to help Nisbo’s failing eyesight? Who knows. The one reprieve for this match is that there’s no Murray Mexted – that’s always a relief.