TV3 is to launch its high definition (HD) service on Sky and UPC in August in preparation for the Rugby World Cup (RWC) in September. Group broadcasting director Niall Cogley (above) said TV3 will show all 48 games live and exclusive. Keith Wood, Matt Williams, Peter Stringer, Shane Jennings, Hugo MacNeill and former England flanker Neil Back will be on the panel.
BBC sports commentator Conor McNamara, Sky Sports’ Stuart Barnes, Murray Kinsella and Liam Tolland will join Today FM’s Last Word presenter Matt Cooper and TV3’s Sinead Kissane on the TV3 team. RWC 2015 will be played in England over six weeks from September 18 to October 31. Thirteen venues in 10 cities will host the 48 games.
The RWC’s net surplus from the tournaments in France in 2007 and New Zealand in 2011 allowed the International Rugby Board (IRB) to invest over £150 million in the game between 2009 and 2012 and commit a planned injection of over £180m from 2013 and next year to underwrite funding efforts and increased participation across the IRB’s 119 members.
