I'm liking what they're trying to do in general. I don't understand the ranting about Clarke's analysis on Boots n All either. I've been wanting them to do that for years and years.

For me its the only thing on Boots n All worth watching, miles better than Cullens waffling. I think the margin meter could be used at the pre match as a prediction. But the point of it is too show how the match is going at that moment.

Which the scoreline, what you're watching with your eyes and what your brain tells you about what might happen, are already doing a perfectly adequate job of telling you.



I don't mind the use of stats on Boots N All - they can be quite interesting; I do mind the clunky attempt to make Phil Clarke appear to be some kind of statistical boffin who has invented a machine that can predict the outcome of a game; he isn't, he hasn't and it can't - it's just another distraction from the game and references to it are intrusive and irritating.

Anybody spot it last weekend? I didn't.

When the margin meter flashes up I just stick knitting needles in my eyes & ears and bite down hard on a piece of tin foil. Problem solved.

Margin meter? B****cks meter more like.

Put it in the same place as 'Try-Track'

The Try-Tracker wasn't a bad idea actually, the only problem was it only followed the play-the-balls and not the actual ball. If it had done it could have showed how the ball was moved from one side to the other in the set of six prior to the try.



I like the idea of a b****cks meter though. Measure how much the forwards are battering each other. If Westwood or O'Meley etc takes the ball up or in defence gives a runner a good whack it'd go up.

If McGuire or Jamie Foster get the ball it immediately goes down.

instead of the MM as a gimmick,SKY should take up the VR/ref backchat like on Premier Sports - it's interesting listening to the ref and the VR discovering why a try has or hasn't been allowed



well I find it interesting anyway...

Rather than being used to predict the end result (as this is bound to change throughout the game), what it should be used to do is predict which team will score points within the next 10 minutes. For example, if a team has had 4 repeat sets as the defending team have missed 6 tackles in the last 10 minutes, they could predict a 10 point momentum shift in the next 10 minutes in favour of the attacking team. This would make much more sense and would be easy for the viewer to track. And then if/when the margin meter is wrong, they can discuss how the defending team managed to prevent the predicted momentum switch - whether that be excellent defense or something like an interception try. This would be good analysis of how the game unfolded and is something sadly lacking from the in game commentary. The closest thing to this is Jon Wells 2 minutes at half and full time.

This for me is the biggest difference and negative over our commentary compared to commentary on NRL games. In Aus, they talk about what's happening on the pitch, and then for tries, or breaks in play, they explain to the viewer from an expert perspective what the attackers did to create space or what the defence did wrong etc....

Margin meter is a microcosm of Phil Clarke himself. Has some good points to make but these are drowned out by the overuse and resulting rubbish that is spouted.



Why not simply show the margin meter at half time to predict how the game is expected to go based on the performances in the 1st half? Then the Sky team can compare that prediction with the fulltime result and Clarke can offer an explanation as to why the prediction was wrong.

If you want some innovation without the technology, Championship rugby on Premier Sports now has real-time analysis direct from the video ref whilst he's deliberating over decisions. It's far more entertaining and factual than the rantings from the commentators and pundits on Sky as to whether a try should be given or not.



Agree that a version of the margin meter in post-match analysis would be more interesting, particularly when assessing why a team that won maybe shouldn't have given the possession, territory or mistakes made.