Brian Moore - love him or hate him?

As a keen scots fan he has been a bogey figure for many a year - but I do enjoy his commentry.

Two real gems today - an Aus player chipped over the line and took a dive " Get up footballer"

A bit of s scuffle "It not even real fighting"

I do like an honest man who wears his heart on his sleeve - dunno if I can cope with him at the calcutta cup tho

He's often unprofessional and I don't think he has a particularly great voice for commentary. I think he is a better pundit than a commentator.

Love

I think he''s one of the best pundits out there however it has taken me a fair few years to appreciate that he's not that bad a commentator - anyone who is this derogatory towards his own team can be judged as having a fairly open and balanced view towards other teams capabilities https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTQWT-B0EBw

He does harp on a bit about the ball being squint in the scrum put-in

but I think he makes the most valid observations and is suitably critical most of the time

I think Moore's great. I enjoy his comments and his love/hate relationship with Butler.

Moore for me is on par with JD, they both say things they probably regret, both overly passionate about their teams and generally both non easy on the ear...

I like him

How can you Hate Brian More?

He does go on a bit especialy when it comes to the scrum.

offload wrote:I think Moore's great. I enjoy his comments and his love/hate relationship with Butler.

Exactly the same for me. His off the cuff comments are usually spot on. And if not, at least they are entertaining. He never commits the cardinal sins of:
- Disguising the team he supports
- Making points not relevent to the match at hand
- Being boring

One of the best commentators, in my opinion.

Like his commentary on that England clearance kick in Paris a few years ago:
".......well that one didn't even land in the right arrondissement...."
priceless.

Beale was the 'footballer'. I laughed at Moore's comments too - thinking to myself you better hope he gets up Brian as he's the only Aussie player making a game of it against the Welsh. He was everywhere. The game should have been designated Wales V Curtley.

But on the point of Moore himself, we know he has a ref qualification, he doesn't have to constantly try to prove it with his little pedantic rants about players making silly rule mistakes. It can become tiresome. So Brian, would you have made the bloody perfect decision every time in a pressure game? Drop the headmaster stuff...and just enjoy the mistakes, they're actually what turn rugby into theatre.

If he just had Jiffy's sense of humour he would be the best pundit ever.

One of Moore's best traits is that he admits when he is wrong. He will often say stuff like "well it looks like the french 6 came in high there with a swinging arm..." and then after a replay "actually I was wrong, from this angle you can clearly see the Italian player has ducked into that genuine attempt at a good tackle" or whatever.

Lots of commentators get things wrong but then stick to their guns - it's very annoying.

*example made up!

indeed - I like that about him

Moore is very entertaining.

My main criticism of him would be that he really only commentates on England. Not in the sense that he is biased towards them in decisions (ala Jiffy) but that he will only mention things in terms of what England did well or badly. So a great break from the opposition will be discussed in terms of what England didn't do in defence

When he started to commentate this was particularily noticable but he has modified his style as time has passed.

Maybe he just acknowledges that the camera(s) won't make a mistake and it's better to go along with the replays than to still believe in your first immediate impressions.

There you go, a ref seeing something unfold at realtime speed and then having a different view when he has a few repeated views from differing angles. Kinda proves that an onfield ref's job - relying on their fallible eyesight to make quick judgements - is a tough one; especially when we often blame them for not seeing what we can clearly see on the slow-mo replays.

I really could not stand him when he first came onto the scene, he was one of the most annoying commentators around in my view.

After getting used to him, i actually really like him and the passion he has for the game. Some of his quips are very clever and entertaining as well and who doesnt like a good Moore rant

One of the best commentators out there

Maybe Moore sneaks in here, reads the 606 comments and improves his game accordingly.

Maybe SL gets his ideas here too.
So many experts on here to learn from.

MrsP wrote:Moore is very entertaining.

My main criticism of him would be that he really only commentates on England. Not in the sense that he is biased towards them in decisions (ala Jiffy) but that he will only mention things in terms of what England did well or badly. So a great break from the opposition will be discussed in terms of what England didn't do in defence

When he started to commentate this was particularily noticable but he has modified his style as time has passed.

Indeed - early on his bias against Scotland was very noticeable ( I think it took him years to get over the 1990 calcutta cup defeat) but he has improved

screamingaddabs wrote:One of Moore's best traits is that he admits when he is wrong. He will often say stuff like "well it looks like the french 6 came in high there with a swinging arm..." and then after a replay "actually I was wrong, from this angle you can clearly see the Italian player has ducked into that genuine attempt at a good tackle" or whatever.

Lots of commentators get things wrong but then stick to their guns - it's very annoying.

*example made up!

Agreed, the likes of Healy are the complete opposite.
Just see the 'Cueto Eye Gouge incident' for an example.

Legend. Commentating on England last year - "stop bl**dy kicking!".

Love him.

Re scrums and laws fixation: he's right - the refereeing and the irb direction on such things is often lamentable.

I do feel he gets himself involved in too many pointless and irrelevant debates on twitter - probably because of the "characters" targeting him.

he's probably my favourite commentator - did anyone else think it was a bit mean of the BBC to make him commentate on the turgid Wales Oz game; forcing him to miss the England NZ match?

Not a commentator in the true sense, doesn't pretend to be and is there for the usually very astute analysis of what just happened. His passion for the game and his knowledge are great and his style is entirely his own. Good man and very entertaining. Love him.

Love him. Makes me giggle calling people stupid. Brutally honest

It's the word halfwit I like.

Moore is a fantastic commentator.

sheephead wrote:Love him. Makes me giggle calling people stupid. Brutally honest

So he'd never survive here. 'Brutal honesty' and calling people 'stupid' gets you banned here.

Maybe we should tolerate the 606 Brian Moores more?

I used to be somewhat ambivalent towards him, he could be funny and insightful and then downright annoying.

Until he wrote that article on Daniel James, as a man and as a writer as well as a rugby commentator he went right up in my estimation.

Prior to that piece the only other time someone looking like Brian Moore brought a tear to my eyes was on a pitch and the aforementioned fellow had an unhealthy liking for repeatedly squishing my gentleman's vegetables at the bottom of a ruck.

The bounder!

Hate him more than any other commentator/pundit!!!

LemonyVodka5 wrote:I used to be somewhat ambivalent towards him, he could be funny and insightful and then downright annoying.

Until he wrote that article on Daniel James, as a man and as a writer as well as a rugby commentator he went right up in my estimation.

Prior to that piece the only other time someone looking like Brian Moore brought a tear to my eyes was on a pitch and the aforementioned fellow had an unhealthy liking for repeatedly squishing my gentleman's vegetables at the bottom of a ruck.

The bounder!

Just read that Daniel James article.
Whilst not 'technically' brilliant he really does what he does best, and offers open honesty and emotion.

At times I can't stand Moore, but I feel very few could argue his character.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTQWT-B0EBw

He's a character. I don't see how anyone could loathe him. The 'Brian Moore's Mouth Challenge' on Scrum V was comical. Every time the contestant missed Moore's mouth you would hear some snide but funny Brian Moore comments in the background.

This is the man who when working as a solicitor in the amateur days was apocryphally mistaken for his client due to his rough and ready appearance.

I'd love him to be a mod on here.

I love him - more than anything else, he's honest. If England are playing badly, he criticises them. If they're playing well, he criticises them less.

He is knowledgable as well, both about the rules (he happens to be right about squint feeds, even if he does 'go on') and the players - you never see him mispronouncing a foreign player's name, for example. Jonathan Davies could certainly learn a thing or two (I swear, he only knows the names of the Welsh players. If you're unlucky enough to be playing for another team, don't expect to be mentioned.

love.

MrsP wrote:Moore is very entertaining.

My main criticism of him would be that he really only commentates on England. Not in the sense that he is biased towards them in decisions (ala Jiffy) but that he will only mention things in terms of what England did well or badly. So a great break from the opposition will be discussed in terms of what England didn't do in defence

When he started to commentate this was particularily noticable but he has modified his style as time has passed.

I don't mind this too much, so long as the commentary team balance each other out. Usually Butler pipes in behind whoever plays against england, so having Moore comment from the England perspective isn't as bad when the two are paired together.

I'd prefer this to the usual skysports 'isn't everyone great and isn't this the greatest skill you have ever seen' approach to their games.

Read his autobiography "Beware of the Dog". An outstanding rugby book.

I have to admit he used to get on my nerves but now, best pundit/commentator the BBC have. Him and Eddie have the Odd Couple routine down well and Mr Cotter and Moore make a good team also. They need more like him!

I actually like Moore and his double act with Butler is always amusing and informed.

I really like him, he is funny, but beneath the 'say it like it is' front is real rugby knowledge. Far better than the sky cheerleaders!

How many other commentators will ever bother to actually train as a referee in order to understand the laws better?

I always thought he was a gobby prat, but he does grow on you (like a wart )

However after reading his book you can see how his demons have made him what he is.

I got loads of time for him.

I'd recommend listening to him on Desert Island Discs
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/desert-island-discs/castaway/14e6ba77#b01cj4ky

Probably some of the best radio programming I'd heard in years.

I Brian

Thumbs up from me.

Its amazing how much he seems to have won folk over. He used to be utterly despised by anyone with the slightest whiff of non English tendencies.

I assume its partly the influence of the depressive amounts of banality that have crept into most coverage, people are increasingly aware and appreciative of someone who has something of worth to say.

He is not sycophantic towards England (far from it) that is how he has won non English respect.
Mavbe his early 'difficulties' too, once these became known.

gregortree wrote:He is not sycophantic towards England (far from it) that is how he has won non English respect.
Mavbe his early 'difficulties' too, once these became known.

Like having a half Welsh brother...imagine the shame!

exactly Peter

Cryptoyourisan wrote:He's often unprofessional and I don't think he has a particularly great voice for commentary. I think he is a better pundit than a commentator.

Thats true he is often unprofessional but I think thats kinda why I like him. I do get tired of the diplomacy of other pundit and commentators where you know that they are shackled by diplomacy into not exactly saying what they really think.