Six Nations 2024: Broadcast coverage to feature innovation in the bunker, on the pitch and online
The victorious Ireland team celebrates winning the Six Nations Grand Slam in Dublin, 18 March 2023 [Photo: Sky Sports]
In fact, only Italy captain Michele Lamaro remains from last year, with new skippers in France’s Grégory Alldritt, England’s Jamie George, Peter O’Mahony for Ireland and Scotland’s co-captains Finn Russell and Rory Darge for 2024. Former Argentina fly-half Gonzalo Quesada comes in as the new head coach for Italy, replacing New Zealand’s Kieran Crowley. The tournament starts tonight with France v Ireland, and will end with France against England on 16 March.
There are no changes to the host broadcaster line up for the 2024 Six Nations tournament: BBC, France Télévisions, ITV, RTE, Sky Italia and Virgin Media. BBC and ITV share coverage for the UK, with RTE and Virgin Media sharing the duties for viewers in Ireland. All of the broadcast partners will have commentary positions at all of the games for on-site commentary.
“France TV are our host in France and Sky Italia in Italy, and for the Wales home game it’s the BBC this weekend,” Siobhan McCartan, head of broadcast partnerships at Six Nations Rugby, told SVG Europe. “It will go out to 184 territories around the globe as well. And then obviously all our host broadcasters will be putting out their own domestic feeds, but to the same world feed running order that they produce for all those territories.
“In many ways there is continuity this year, in terms of the belt and braces of our host broadcast production. The minimum spec is the same, in terms of what our host broadcasters have to do. But we are seeing most of our broadcasters adding in cine style cameras, which is becoming a really important camera for us to add extra colour and flavour: fan-appealing imagery that we’re seeing more of in rugby.
Read more Six Nations 2024: ITV Sport powers ahead with on-site broadcast coverage
“And every year there is an extra layer of innovation to go on top,” continued McCartan. “The bunker review system was a new addition for Rugby World Cup. We’ve worked a lot with World Rugby and with our broadcasters to really make sure that in our Championship the bunker decision-making process is explained to the fans, so rugby can continue to be a more easily understandable game.
“We want the fan to understand – whether that is through graphics, clear referee audio or the broadcast commentary – the decision that comes from the bunker, and that the referee communicates the decision at an agreed time so that all parties are aware. That’s where we’re really trying to focus for this Championship, the tying together of all the parties who need to convey that decision at one moment in the game.”
“It’s really an evolution of how it was presented in the Rugby World Cup, to try and tell the story to fans and viewers,” added Alan Burns, broadcast logistics consultant for Six Nations. “First, the referee displays a yellow card to the player and makes an ‘X’ above his head to signal a review. When the Foul Play Review Officer (FRPO) in the bunker has his decision, the TMO will tell the referee who then signals another X to show he has a result. He will then call the captains over and will announce the result, based on the reason he gives them.
“We will hear that on broadcast, as we always hear the referee in rugby. This is a collaboration between Six Nations, World Rugby, referees, broadcasters and national unions; everybody has been working on the points and workflow that needed to evolve, to help fans better understand the game,” said Burns.
Stade Orange Vélodrome in Marselle being prepared for 2024 Six Nations opening match between France and Ireland tonight
Ref Cam and Mic provide unique on-pitch coverage
“The other big innovation we have is Ref Cam,” said McCartan. “This will be the first Guinness Six Nations since 2020 that referees will be wearing a camera on the pitch to give a perspective on scrums, or as the director feels appropriate to show.
“We’ve gone through a couple of years of in-depth research and development with a company called JockeyCam. Obviously as they have been providing this technology for jockeys we knew it would be very light, not cumbersome for the referees to wear, which was one of the problems with the old system. Again this was something we trialled in the 2023 Summer Nations Series.
“That’s quite exciting, and will be in the majority of games this year. It’s the only camera that’s on the pitch, in the thick of it; every other camera is on the side line. So it really does give you that up-close, personal, authentic feel that other cameras can’t provide.”
“In rugby of course we have the Ref Mic open all the time,” added Burns. “So if you now have the Ref Cam when the referee is talking to the two front rows before a scrum, you’re not just hearing the referee because you can now see the faces of the players he’s talking to and the instructions he’s giving in that moment of play. So adding Ref Cam to the uniqueness of having Ref Mic in rugby is important.”
“Shot clock is also a first for Six Nations,” said McCartan. “Again we trialled it in our Summer Nations Series. Shot clock will be on broadcast and in the stadiums, to serve fans, players, refs and viewers at home.” The shot clock shows players the 90 seconds they have to take a conversion and 60 seconds to kick a penalty with the time counting down on screen in-stadia and in-broadcast.
Another innovation being undertaken by France Télévisions this year is live translation and transcription from English to French for its streaming service. “Obviously refs are speaking English into comms and that’s what fans are hearing, but of course all our viewers are not English-speaking,” said McCartan. “So in order to make that referee communication understandable by French fans, France TV are trialling a new innovation which will have a live transcription of that on their streaming service.
“They’re also going to look at potentially using it for replays and clips in broadcast: it’s obviously harder in the broadcast piece but certainly on the live web site and their streaming platforms they’ll have a live translation of ref comms broadcast on-air, which we think will serve the French fans and viewers well, in order to understand referee decisions more accurately. This is very much a first step for France TV, as of course everyone has to be careful with any automated voice-detect technology.”
Full suite of data from Smart Ball
France will play all three of their home fixtures away from the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, as the stadium is being prepared for use in the 2024 Summer Olympics. The matches on French soil will be played at the Stade Orange Vélodrome in Marseille, the Stade Pierre Mauroy in Villeneuve-d’Ascq (near Lille) and the Groupama Stadium in Décines (near Lyon).
“Obviously the three stadia chosen for the France matches this year were all Rugby World Cup venues,” said Burns, “so they are all used to rugby. And Marseille hosted the EPCR final two years ago as well. Obviously it requires a bit more logistical planning from all our broadcast partners with more site visits, as every stadium has its own nuances. But France TV are applying the same specification, as if they were in Paris, to Marseille, Lyon and Lille.”
“We’ll also have Smart Balls again this year,” added McCartan. “These are chipped balls that send data through as automated stats at certain thresholds just under the clock on the graphics, and each broadcast editorial team can choose what story they want to tell with the full suite of data that’s coming from Sportable’s Smart Ball, with Stats Perform data available for graphics use as well.”
The Smart Ball is tracked in 3D and real time with beacons positioned around the pitch to determine the exact position of the ball up to 20 times per second and provide immediate feedback on every kick and pass.
“It feels exciting with the Friday night Championship opening,” concluded McCartan. “I really like this opener for the schedule. Of course we all thought one of the two teams would be holding the Webb Ellis trophy to add to the occasion … but maybe next time!”
2024 Six Nations fixtures
Round one
Friday 2 February: France v Ireland
Kick off: 8pm GMT
Venue: Orange Vélodrome, Marseille
Referee: Karl Dickinson (ENG)
Saturday 3 February: Italy v England
Kick off : 2.15pm GMT
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Referee: Paul Williams (NZ)
Saturday 3 February: Wales v Scotland
Kick off: 4.45pm GMT
Venue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff
Referee: Ben O’Keefe (NZ)
Round two
Saturday 10 February: Scotland v France
Kick off: 2.15pm GMT
Venue: Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Referee: Nic Berry (Aus)
Saturday 10 February: England v Wales
Kick off: 4.45pm GMT
Venue: Twickenham Stadium, London
Referee: James Doleman (NZ)
Sunday 11 February: Ireland v Italy
Kick off: 3pm GMT
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Referee: Pierrre Brousset (Fra)
Round three
Saturday 24 February: Ireland v Wales
Kick off: 2.15pm GMT
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Ita)
Saturday 24 February: Scotland v England
Kick off: 4.45pm GMT
Venue: Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ire)
Sunday 25 February: France v Italy
Kick off: 3pm GMT
Venue: Stade Pierre Mauroy, Lille
Referee: Christophe Ridley (ENG)
Round four
Saturday 9 March: Italy v Scotland
Kick off: 2.15pm GMT
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Referee: Jaco Peyper (SA)
Saturday 9 March: England v Ireland
Kick off: 4.45pm GMT
Venue: Twickenham Stadium, Cardiff
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Geo)
Sunday 10 March: Wales v France
Kick off: 3pm GMT
Venue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff
Referee: Luke Pearce (ENG)
Round five
Saturday 16 March: Wales v Italy,
Kick off: 2.15pm GMT
Venue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (Fra)
Saturday 16 March: Ireland v Scotland
Kick off: 4.45pm GMT
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Referee: Matthew Carley (ENG)
Saturday 16 March: France v England
Kick off: 8pm GMT
Venue: Groupama Stadium, Lyon
Referee: Angus Gardner (Aus)