New Zealand’s ‘voice of rugby’ Keith Quinn reckons this is the best Rugby World Cup yet, and he should now.
The legendary Kiwi TV commentator has worked at all five RWCs.
“This one’s the best yet. It has been brilliantly organised, it is full of friendly people and the whole experience has just been fantastic.”
Interesting comparison
Quinn was in Sydney commentating on the Olympics for Television New Zealand in 2000.
He said it has been interesting to compare the biggest event in rugby to the biggest event in sport.
“Having been at the Olympics and seeing how that went off I haven’t been at all surprised how successful this World Cup has been.”
Quinn has been especially impressed with the “dignified and organised” way the games have been presented with the two teams led out onto the field by flag bearers and members of the World Choir singing the national anthems.
“It has all been done with great authority. I really like the style of it.”
Modest original
He contrasts the extravaganza to the inaugural RWC staged in his native New Zealand and sub hosted by Australia in 1987.
“That was a brand new event and as much as we loved it we really didn’t know what we were in for.
“The level of organisation for it was fine back then with just the 16 teams but the whole event was very modest compared to this.”
From a TV point of view he recalled there were eight cameras used to capture the 1987 final between the All Blacks and France, compared to the 22 used to cover tonight’s big finale.
There will be 300 million viewers around the globe catching tonight’s match on TV, the total cumulative audience of the 1987 Tournament.
“We were the guinea pigs,” Quinn said.
Remarable career
Since he joined the New Zealand Broadcasting Service (NZBS now the TVNZ) on leaving Wellington College in 1965, Quinn has fashioned a remarkable career as the nation’s pre-eminent sports comments man.
He has not missed a major sporting event since and has called a huge array of sports at events including various Olympic and Commonwealth Games.
But rugby has always been his first love and the game that has made him a household name in New Zealand.
This year he celebrates 30 years calling Test matches. His first Test behind the mic was as a 27 year old when he commentated the England v New Zealand match at Auckland’s Eden Park in 1973.
He has travelled with his beloved All Blacks on numerous tours since 1974 and has called the Hong Kong Sevens for Hong Kong TVB each year since 1986.
His knowledge of the game and its players is legendary. As is the fastidious preparation he puts into each match.
Learned from the master
In a system learned from iconic Scottish rugby broadcaster Bill McLaran and followed since 1974, Quinn has two large cards (“actually a manila folder cut in half”) and on each he has every player, plus reserves and match officials listed.
Next to each name he has that players vital statistics, age, weight, height and number of Tests played.
But it is the little gems of trivia that he has noted next alongside these bald facts that set Quinn’s commentary apart.
“I’ve been preparing for this Cup since January, getting stuff off the internet and clipped out of newspapers about all the players.
He has created 20 files, one for each team at the Tournament, each bulging with tasty tidbits of info about anything from match day superstitions of players to their favourite TV shows.
“I write them down as headline speak statements that I can pull out at the appropriate moment.
“My wife has come over to Sydney on holiday just before the semi finals and took home 16 of these files with her because those teams were no longer in the Tournament.
“I hold the cards in my hands throughout the match and swap them over at half time so they relate to which way the team is playing.”
He uses different coloured pencils so as not to get information about one player mixed up with another.
“It’s a lot of fun. But I need to get it correct, a lot of people know when you make a mistake.”
State of the Art
He praised the opulent broadcasting facilities available at Telstra Stadium.
They are a far cry from some of the less state of the art positions he has called rugby games from.
One match in particular between the touring Lions and Fiji in 1977 springs to mind.
“We were perched on a bamboo scaffolding tied to the grandstand by a piece of string. Fiji won that day, the Lions were having a very good time of it in Suva after their New Zealand tour.”
Quinn conceded calling last week’s All Black loss to the Wallabies in the semi final was tough.
“That was difficult. . .(but I had to remember) A) I’m a New Zealander and B) millions of New Zealanders were watching it devastated.”
But ever the professional, Quinn had a line prepared for the occasion, one pinched from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar which he used with about ten minutes to go.
“If you have tears New Zealand prepare to shed them now.”