Press Releases Six Nations: Matt Dawson steps up broadcasting duties for Radio 5 Live

Category: 5 Live
Date: 23.01.2008
Printable version

• Programmes from Thursday 31 January 2008
• Commentary from Saturday 2 February 2008

World Cup winner Matt Dawson is to present a series of special rugby preview shows during the RBS Six Nations tournament on BBC Radio 5 Live, in addition to reprising his role as expert summariser for all England matches.

Starting on Thursday 31 January, top name guests will join Matt in the preview shows for a mix of news, discussion and analysis.

Matt will also present two special rugby editions of 5 Live's famous sporting phone-in, 606 – these and the preview shows will be available to download after broadcast at bbc.co.uk/5live.

All home nation games will broadcast live on either Radio 5 Live or BBC 5 Live Sports Extra with former Scotland captain Gavin Hastings, former Ireland full back Hugo MacNeill and former Wales captain Robert Jones all returning for expert summariser duty for their respective nations.

Radio 5 Live's award-winning rugby commentator Ian Robertson heads up the commentary team with Alistair Hignell, Alastair Eykyn, Iain Carter and Jonny Saunders.

Well known for football on 5 Live, Irish commentator Conor McNamara joins the BBC's Six Nations team for the first time, following a successful stint covering the rugby World Cup for Irish television.

Radio 5 Live will also bring extensive coverage of all the tournament news, interviews and reviews during the six weeks of action.

bbc.co.uk/5live will carry podcasts of Rugby 606 and Matt Dawson's preview shows. Live commentary is available online in the UK.

Listen to 5 Live via digital radio, digital television, online at bbc.co.uk/5live, and on 909 & 693 MW.

Notes to Editors

Broadcast details:

Date	Match	Time	Station
31 Jan	5 Live Rugby Special with Matt Dawson	2030	R5L
2 Feb	Ireland v Italy England v Wales	1400 1630	R5L SE R5L
3 Feb	Scotland v France	1500	R5L
8 Feb	5 Live Rugby Special with Matt Dawson	2100	R5L
9 Feb	Wales v Scotland France v Ireland	1400 1600	R5L SE R5L SE
10 Feb	Italy v England	1430	R5L SE
22 Feb	5 Live Rugby Special with Matt Dawson	2100	R5L
23 Feb	Wales v Italy Ireland v Scotland France v England Matt Dawson's 606	1500 1700 2000 2200	R5L SE R5L SE R5L R5L
7 Mar	5 Live Rugby Special with Matt Dawson	2100	R5L
8 Mar	Ireland v Wales Scotland v England	1315 1515	R5L SE R5L
9 Mar	France v Italy	1500	updates only
14 Mar	5 Live Rugby Special with Matt Dawson	2045	R5L
15 Mar	Italy v Scotland England v Ireland Wales v France Matt Dawson's 606	1300 1500 1700 2000	tbc R5L tbc R5L

R5L = Radio 5 Live
R5L SE = Radio 5 Live Sports Extra

In addition to Radio 5 Live's UK coverage, the BBC is providing the following in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland:

Wales

BBC Radio Cymru has Welsh language coverage, which includes full commentary of every Wales game plus in-depth previews and reaction with a host of former players, coaches and top names. Welsh language commentary is also available online at bbc.co.uk/chwaraeon.

BBC Radio Wales has live English language commentary of every Wales game in the Six Nations. Gareth Charles leads the commentary team with Wales legends Phil Bennett and Garin Jenkins.

There is build up and reaction every Thursday night on Scrum V, with Gareth Lewis, John Devereux and Adrian Hadley plus other top names from the game and rugby-loving celebrities.

After every game there is in-depth chat and analysis in the Scrum V phone-in.

Scotland

BBC Radio Scotland will cover all Scotland matches live on Sportsound. Previews and reviews will also feature on the Friday night Sportsound from 8.00 to 10.00pm on 810 MW and digital.

Northern Ireland

BBC Radio Ulster will carry full commentary on all Ireland games with the regular team of Jim Neilly (commentator) and Ryan Constable (summariser). Some games will be broadcast on 1341 MW.

LW