Ryle Nugent
Encyclopedia
Ryle Nugent is an Irish
sports broadcaster, reporter and Head of RTÉ Sport
. Prior to his appointment, he was RTÉ's commissioning editor for sport primarily specialising in rugby union
. He is the resident rugby union commentator for RTÉ's television coverage of international and club competitions, such as the Six Nations Championship
, Heineken Cup
and Rugby World Cup
. Nugent sometimes serves as the presenter of highlights of previously broadcast rugby union events.
He has provided RTÉ commentary from the 2000
, 2004
and 2008 Summer Olympics
, and presented sports programmes such as The Grip
and Against the Head
. Other more recent television appearances have included The Cafe
and Dustin's Daily News
.
in Dublin. He studied broadcasting and journalism at Ballyfermot Senior College instead of at university. He qualified in 1990.
in 1995 to work as a sports presenter on the young people's television programme The Grip
. Nugent went on to become the presenter of rugby union highlights for RTÉ Sport
during the 1999 Rugby World Cup
, when he heard that RTÉ were searching for younger talent to replace established names such as Jim Sherwin and George Hamilton
. His live television commentary debut was the Georgia
versus Romania
match at the World Cup. He later reflected upon having drank so much coffee before the game that he vomited. In 2000, he was reported as having described Ireland
's rugby union player and future captain, Brian O'Driscoll
, in the early part of his career at the time, as being "a hard tackler" with "great hands".
Nugent also covers other sports such as football and golf
. He was dispatched by RTÉ as one of thirty-eight members of its staff to cover the Summer Olympic Games
that year, and was described in his country's national media as "running all over Sydney
". In October 2002, Nugent was announced as the presenter of a new production by RTÉ Sport, titled Against the Head
, to begin airing in January 2003. The rugby union magazine style programme returned to Irish television screens in January 2004. That year also saw Nugent return to RTÉ's Olympic coverage, this time in Athens
, Greece
.
Other high-profile moments of rugby union commentary came during the 2003 Rugby World Cup
in Australia
and the 2006 Heineken Cup Final in which Munster
beat Biarritz Olympique
. He appeared on the children's entertainment show Dustin's Daily News
on 12 February 2007. Nugent performed another return to Olympic broadcasting in 2008 when he provided commentary for RTÉ from Beijing
, China
. He provided commentary for all games in the 2009 Six Nations Championship
, in which Ireland won the Grand Slam
and Triple Crown
for the first time since 1948, and appeared on The Cafe on 20 March just prior to this achievement. Before this, he described his commentary on the 2007 Ireland versus England
Six Nations match at Croke Park
in Dublin as the highlight of his career.
He was a guest on The Cafe
on 12 March 2010. On October 8th 2011, Nugent did the commentary for Irelands Rugby World Cup Quarter Final match against Wales. Nugent replaced Hugh Cahill in the Commentary Box. It was a controversial decision, not alone due to Cahill being considered by many to be a far superior Commentator, but also because Cahill had commentated on the four previous Ireland games in the Competition, which had all resulted in Irish victories. Nugents commentary was considered by many to have had a negative effect on the karma of the Irish team, who disappointed in a 22-10 defeat to the Welsh. Many Irish Rugby fans publicly blamed Nugent for the defeat on social networking site such as Facebook and Twitter.
once encountering him "wrapped in the sort of attire more accustomed to Johnny Fortycoats
or an Arctic
explorer, and with his sheepskin
gloves holding onto his microphone for dear life". His delivery is one of "screeching anticipation" and, even when events are relatively calm, he has been known to "send dogs scurrying for cover". Nugent prepares for this delivery by arriving at the match ground two hours before kick-off to perform a sound check. He typically engages in conversation with the team doctor or other members of the backroom staff to ensure there is nothing new he has not been familiarised with regarding the players. He then wanders aimlessly around the ground before going to the commentary box approximately half an hour before the match begins and listens to the studio discussion which is usually taking place between George Hook
and Brent Pope
.He is also noted for his catch phrase "oh you beauty", which he has mentioned over 600 times.
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
sports broadcaster, reporter and Head of RTÉ Sport
RTÉ Sport
RTÉ Sport is a cross platform, integrated business division of Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann, responsible for the provision of sport coverage on RTÉ Radio, RTÉ Television, and RTÉ.ie....
. Prior to his appointment, he was RTÉ's commissioning editor for sport primarily specialising in rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
. He is the resident rugby union commentator for RTÉ's television coverage of international and club competitions, such as the Six Nations Championship
Six Nations Championship
The Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales....
, Heineken Cup
Heineken Cup
The Heineken Cup is one of two annual rugby union competitions organised by European Rugby Cup involving leading club, regional and provincial teams from the six International Rugby Board countries in Europe whose national teams compete in the Six Nations Championship: England, France, Ireland,...
and Rugby World Cup
Rugby World Cup
The Rugby World Cup is an international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board and held every four years since 1987....
. Nugent sometimes serves as the presenter of highlights of previously broadcast rugby union events.
He has provided RTÉ commentary from the 2000
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
, 2004
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
and 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
, and presented sports programmes such as The Grip
The Grip
-Track listing:# "The Grip" - 7:15# "Spirits in the Field" - 8:36# "Sunrise Service" - 7:54# "Lower Nile" - 4:02# "As of Yet" - 12:37# "My Son Ra" - 3:22*Recorded at the Brook in New York City on February 26, 1977.-Personnel:...
and Against the Head
Against the Head
Against the Head is a weekly rugby magazine programme, broadcast on RTE Two and presented by Joanne Cantwell with regular panellists Shane Byrne, and Irish Times rugby correspondent Gerry Thornley with various other guests throughout the series. The programme goes out on a Monday night usually...
. Other more recent television appearances have included The Cafe
The Cafe (chat show)
The Cafe was an Irish chat programme aimed at youthful persons. It was broadcast on RTÉ Two as part of the TTV strand each Friday evening at 19:00, having switched from its previous location in the Thursday scheduling from 7 November 2008....
and Dustin's Daily News
Dustin's Daily News
Dustin's Daily News is an Irish television chat/comedy show, broadcast on RTÉ Two. The show is hosted by Dustin the Turkey of The Den, with his assistant Sinéad Ni Churnain as a co-host. Two series have been produced. The first series began on 19 September 2005 and ran until 29 April 2006...
.
Education
Nugent was educated at Blackrock CollegeBlackrock College
Blackrock College is a Catholic voluntary secondary school for boys aged 14–18, located in Williamstown, Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland. The College was founded by French missionaries in 1860, to act as a school and civil service training centre. Set in of grounds, it has an illustrious...
in Dublin. He studied broadcasting and journalism at Ballyfermot Senior College instead of at university. He qualified in 1990.
Career
Nugent has been an employee of Raidió Teilifís Éireann for many years, providing rugby union commentary since 1999 and is currently serving as the broadcaster's head of television sport. He transferred to RTÉ from his news desk position at Dublin radio station 98FMDublin's 98
98FM is an independent local radio station in Dublin, Ireland, operated by Radio Two Thousand Limited, a subsidiary of Denis O'Brien's Communicorp Limited, under a sound broadcasting contract from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland. The station broadcasts on the 98.1 MHz FM frequency...
in 1995 to work as a sports presenter on the young people's television programme The Grip
The Grip
-Track listing:# "The Grip" - 7:15# "Spirits in the Field" - 8:36# "Sunrise Service" - 7:54# "Lower Nile" - 4:02# "As of Yet" - 12:37# "My Son Ra" - 3:22*Recorded at the Brook in New York City on February 26, 1977.-Personnel:...
. Nugent went on to become the presenter of rugby union highlights for RTÉ Sport
RTÉ Sport
RTÉ Sport is a cross platform, integrated business division of Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann, responsible for the provision of sport coverage on RTÉ Radio, RTÉ Television, and RTÉ.ie....
during the 1999 Rugby World Cup
1999 Rugby World Cup
The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, and the first to be held in rugby union's professional era. The principal host nation was Wales, although the majority of matches were played outside the country, shared between England, France, Scotland and Ireland...
, when he heard that RTÉ were searching for younger talent to replace established names such as Jim Sherwin and George Hamilton
George Hamilton (commentator)
George Hamilton is an Irish sportscaster born in Belfast. He works for Raidió Teilifís Éireann , and is a household name in Ireland where his voice and refined commentary style of football are familiar to sports fans. He also presents a show on RTÉ lyric fm and previously presented Know Your Sport...
. His live television commentary debut was the Georgia
Georgia national rugby union team
The Georgia national rugby union team represents Georgia in rugby union. The team's nickname, The Lelos, comes from lelo burti, a traditional Georgian sport with strong similarities to rugby. Lelo has been adopted as the Georgian word for "try"...
versus Romania
Romania national rugby union team
The Romania national rugby union team , nicknamed The Oaks , is the representative side of Romania in rugby union. Long considered one of the stronger European teams outside the Six Nations, they have participated in all six Rugby World Cups, and currently compete in the first division of the...
match at the World Cup. He later reflected upon having drank so much coffee before the game that he vomited. In 2000, he was reported as having described Ireland
Ireland national rugby union team
The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...
's rugby union player and future captain, Brian O'Driscoll
Brian O'Driscoll
Brian O'Driscoll is an Irish professional rugby union player. He is the current captain of the Ireland Rugby team and captained Leinster Rugby until the start of 2008 season. He also captained the British and Irish Lions for their 2005 tour of New Zealand...
, in the early part of his career at the time, as being "a hard tackler" with "great hands".
Nugent also covers other sports such as football and golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
. He was dispatched by RTÉ as one of thirty-eight members of its staff to cover the Summer Olympic Games
Summer Olympic Games
The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad are an international multi-sport event, occurring every four years, organized by the International Olympic Committee. Medals are awarded in each event, with gold medals for first place, silver for second and bronze for third, a tradition that...
that year, and was described in his country's national media as "running all over Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
". In October 2002, Nugent was announced as the presenter of a new production by RTÉ Sport, titled Against the Head
Against the Head
Against the Head is a weekly rugby magazine programme, broadcast on RTE Two and presented by Joanne Cantwell with regular panellists Shane Byrne, and Irish Times rugby correspondent Gerry Thornley with various other guests throughout the series. The programme goes out on a Monday night usually...
, to begin airing in January 2003. The rugby union magazine style programme returned to Irish television screens in January 2004. That year also saw Nugent return to RTÉ's Olympic coverage, this time in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
.
Other high-profile moments of rugby union commentary came during the 2003 Rugby World Cup
2003 Rugby World Cup
The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and the 2006 Heineken Cup Final in which Munster
Munster Rugby
Munster Rugby is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Munster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro12 and Heineken Cup.The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Union Munster Branch which is one of four primary branches of the IRFU, and is responsible for rugby union in the Irish...
beat Biarritz Olympique
Biarritz Olympique
Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque is a French professional rugby union team based in the Basque city of Biarritz, Aquitaine which competes in the Top 14 and the Heineken Cup...
. He appeared on the children's entertainment show Dustin's Daily News
Dustin's Daily News
Dustin's Daily News is an Irish television chat/comedy show, broadcast on RTÉ Two. The show is hosted by Dustin the Turkey of The Den, with his assistant Sinéad Ni Churnain as a co-host. Two series have been produced. The first series began on 19 September 2005 and ran until 29 April 2006...
on 12 February 2007. Nugent performed another return to Olympic broadcasting in 2008 when he provided commentary for RTÉ from Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. He provided commentary for all games in the 2009 Six Nations Championship
2009 Six Nations Championship
The 2009 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2009 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the tenth Six Nations Championship, an annual rugby union competition contested by the six major Northern Hemisphere rugby union national teams...
, in which Ireland won the Grand Slam
Grand Slam (Rugby Union)
In rugby union, a Grand Slam occurs when one team in the Six Nations Championship manages to beat all the others during one year's competition...
and Triple Crown
Triple Crown (Rugby Union)
In rugby union, the Triple Crown is an honour contested annually by the four national teams of the British Isles who compete within the larger Six Nations Championship: England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. If any one team manages to win all their games against the other three they win the...
for the first time since 1948, and appeared on The Cafe on 20 March just prior to this achievement. Before this, he described his commentary on the 2007 Ireland versus England
England national rugby union team
The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...
Six Nations match at Croke Park
Croke Park
Croke Park in Dublin is the principal stadium and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association , Ireland's biggest sporting organisation...
in Dublin as the highlight of his career.
He was a guest on The Cafe
The Cafe (chat show)
The Cafe was an Irish chat programme aimed at youthful persons. It was broadcast on RTÉ Two as part of the TTV strand each Friday evening at 19:00, having switched from its previous location in the Thursday scheduling from 7 November 2008....
on 12 March 2010. On October 8th 2011, Nugent did the commentary for Irelands Rugby World Cup Quarter Final match against Wales. Nugent replaced Hugh Cahill in the Commentary Box. It was a controversial decision, not alone due to Cahill being considered by many to be a far superior Commentator, but also because Cahill had commentated on the four previous Ireland games in the Competition, which had all resulted in Irish victories. Nugents commentary was considered by many to have had a negative effect on the karma of the Irish team, who disappointed in a 22-10 defeat to the Welsh. Many Irish Rugby fans publicly blamed Nugent for the defeat on social networking site such as Facebook and Twitter.
Style
Nugent dresses in numerous layers to deliver his commentary, with The Irish TimesThe Irish Times
The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Kevin O'Sullivan who succeeded Geraldine Kennedy in 2011; the deputy editor is Paul O'Neill. The Irish Times is considered to be Ireland's newspaper of record, and is published every day except Sundays...
once encountering him "wrapped in the sort of attire more accustomed to Johnny Fortycoats
Fortycoats & Co.
Fortycoats & Co. was an Irish children's television drama series produced by RTÉ and broadcast on RTÉ One during the 1980s. The series was cancelled in the early 1990s.-Premise:...
or an Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
explorer, and with his sheepskin
Sheepskin
Sheepskin is the hide of a sheep, sometimes also called lambskin or lambswool.Sheepskin may also refer to:* Parchment, a thin material made from calfskin, sheepskin or goatskin** Diploma, originally made of sheepskin...
gloves holding onto his microphone for dear life". His delivery is one of "screeching anticipation" and, even when events are relatively calm, he has been known to "send dogs scurrying for cover". Nugent prepares for this delivery by arriving at the match ground two hours before kick-off to perform a sound check. He typically engages in conversation with the team doctor or other members of the backroom staff to ensure there is nothing new he has not been familiarised with regarding the players. He then wanders aimlessly around the ground before going to the commentary box approximately half an hour before the match begins and listens to the studio discussion which is usually taking place between George Hook
George Hook
George Hook is an Irish broadcaster, journalist and rugby union pundit. He had a career as a rugby union coach and businessman, before becoming a rugby pundit with Raidió Teilifís Éireann...
and Brent Pope
Brent Pope (rugby analyst)
Brent Pope is a New Zealand born rugby analyst on RTÉ television, rugby journalist,childrens book author, After dinner speaker and founder of Outside In Art Gallery in Dublin Ireland.-Playing career:...
.He is also noted for his catch phrase "oh you beauty", which he has mentioned over 600 times.
External links
- Ryle Nugent's Six Nations Column at RTÉ
- Appearance on The CafeThe Cafe (chat show)The Cafe was an Irish chat programme aimed at youthful persons. It was broadcast on RTÉ Two as part of the TTV strand each Friday evening at 19:00, having switched from its previous location in the Thursday scheduling from 7 November 2008....
—20 March 2009 - http://www.munsterfans.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=17262&TPN=5