RUGBY NEWS: BBC Alba providing live coverage of Scottish games
BBC ALBA’s exclusive coverage of RaboDirect PRO12 rugby kicks off this weekend with live action from both Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby’s opening league matches.
Coverage of the Glasgow match will begin this Friday at 7.00pm, with the match itself will beginning at 7.05pm. Edinburgh match coverage will begin at 7.55pm on Saturday with kick-off at 8.00pm. Both matches will feature commentary courtesy of Hugh Dan MacLennan.
Glasgow enter this season’s campaign with new head coach Gregor Townsend taking over the reins from Sean Lineen and a number of new signings to bolster the squad including the return to Warriors of Scotland winger Sean Lamont.
He will be joined at Glasgow’s new Scotstoun base by All Black back-row forward Angus Macdonald, Tongan international forward Viliami Ma’afu, Newcastle Falcons lock Tim Swinson, former Border Bulldogs centre Byron McGuigan and Canada’s youngest ever internationalist, Taylor Paris.
The new faces at Warriors will be hoping they can add to a side that finished fourth in last season’s standings.
Glasgow will open their campaign with a trip to Ravenhill to face Ulster for the second year in succession. In last year’s round one fixture it was the home side who triumphed in a 28-14 win but Warriors gained revenge when they secured a 17-9 victory against their Irish counterparts at Firhill in November.
As well as the live action, we speak to the captains and coaches from the PRO12 as well as President Andy Irvine. We also have an extended interview with new Glasgow head coach Gregor Townsend who talks about his new role and his vision for the journey ahead. There will also be analysis of the match throughout from Warriors new signing Angus Macdonald.
Meanwhile, Edinburgh open their league season with a visit from last season’s third place side Munster.
Michael Bradley has been busy recruiting a large number of signings during the close season, with WP Nel, Izak van der Westhuizen, Richie Rees, John Yapp, Mike Penn, Ben Atiga, Greig Tonks and Andy Titterrell among the players moving to Murrayfield with the aim of helping the side from the capital improve on last season’s eleventh place finish.
They’ll also be looking to repeat last season’s home fixture against Munster which saw Edinburgh record a convincing 29-14 victory over the Irish side before a 34-17 reverse at Thomond Park in November.
In addition to the action on the pitch, we feature an extended interview with Edinburgh head coach Michael Bradley as prepares for the challenges of the new season, as well as a package on the launch of the new revamped RBS Premier League featuring the best club sides in Scotland.
BBC ALBA has signed an exclusive deal to show live RaboDirect PRO12 rugby in Scotland until the 2013/14 season. The channel is committed to showing at least eight Edinburgh or Glasgow home matches per season, and has teamed up with Irish, Welsh and Italian broadcasters to also provide live coverage of selected away matches for both sides.
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