() is a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

Welsh-language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it has al ...

television programme shown on S4C. Produced by

BBC Cymru Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, BBC Cymru Wales is ...

, the show is amongst the most popular programmes shown on S4C. The show was known as until the beginning of the 2014–15 season.

Format

The show is presented by Gareth Rhys Owen with analysis provided by Deiniol Jones and Andrew Coombs and commentary by Gareth Charles and former Wales captain Gwyn Jones. Catrin Heledd and Owain Gwynedd are touchline reporters. s'' main coverage as of the 2015–16 season is of the

Pro14 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

, with a live game shown in every league round, where possible including a Welsh regional side. The

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

is broadcast under the title (). Other international matches involving Wales, in particular, the November Test series, are also shown on . Highlights of the

Principality Premiership The Welsh Premier Division, () known for sponsorship reasons as the Indigo Group Premiership, (''Uwch Gynghrair grŵp indigo'') is a rugby union league in Wales first implemented by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) for the 1990–91 season. Compe ...

and the

SWALEC Cup The WRU Challenge Cup (currently known as the Specsavers Cup due to sponsorship), or its full name of the Welsh Rugby Union Challenge Cup, is Wales' premier knockout rugby union competition and is organised by the Welsh Rugby Union. On 26 Februar ...

are shown, with the final of the SWALEC Cup being televised live. Live Pro 14 games are usually shown on Friday afternoons. The other rugby union competitions which S4C have the rights to show highlights for are broadcast as separate programmes, namely for the

European Rugby Champions Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

, for coverage of Welsh regions in the knockout rounds of the

European Rugby Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception ...

, and ''Top 14:'' for the French

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

. These programmes share some presenters and commentators. English-language commentary is usually provided via a

red button Red button may refer to: *Red Button (digital television), a button on the remote control for certain digital television set top boxes in the United Kingdom and Australia, and used to access interactive television services **BBC Red Button, a digit ...

service, unless the rights to broadcast the match commentary in English is held by another broadcaster.

Awards

The programme won a

BAFTA Cymru BAFTA Cymru (or BAFTA in Wales or WAFTA) is the Welsh branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and was founded in 1987.

Best Live Coverage/Outside Broadcast award in 1999 and in 2005. In 2002 the programme won the

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

Regional Sports Programme of the Year award, becoming the first Welsh-language programme to win a RTS Sport Award.

A spin-off from was announced on 30 May 2007 when S4C announced that they would cover four
Celtic Crusaders Crusaders Rugby League ( cy, Croesgadwyr Rygbi'r Gynghrair) was a professional rugby league club based in Bridgend and later in Wrexham, Wales. They played for six seasons in the Rugby Football League competitions, including three years in the ...

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
matches live. The coverage started on 9 June 2007 when the Crusaders hosted
Barrow Raiders The Barrow Raiders are a semi-professional rugby league team in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. The club was formed in 1875 as Barrow Football Club. For the 1995–96 and 1996 seasons the club was known as Barrow Braves, becoming the Ba ...
at the Brewery Field at 6.30 pm. They eventually showed nine matches over two years.

References

{{Reflist Clwb Rygbi Clwb Rygbi Sports television in Wales Clwb Rygbi Clwb Rygbi Rugby union in Wales Rugby league in Wales BBC Sport 1997 British television series debuts

Format

Awards

See also

References