Ant and Dec caught at center of rugby fan storm after Ireland’s Six Nations Grand Slam trophy lift was not shown in favor of Saturday Night Takeaway
Ant and Dec were caught at the center of a storm with furious rugby fans on Saturday after coverage of the Ireland v England Six Nations game was ‘cut short’.
On Friday, it was announced that Saturday Night Takeaway would start later this weekend to ensure the sports game aired.
After Takeaway fans took aim at ITV for pulling the show from the program in favor of rugby last year, this weekend it was sports fans who were furious.
While the match, which was won by Ireland 29-16, was shown until the end, the Grand Slam trophy presentation was not shown so that Takeaway could go ahead at the scheduled time.
The ITV commentator told viewers the trophy presentation would be shown on ITV4, but the move left a sour taste in the mouths of Irish fans.
Rage: Ant and Dec were caught at the center of a storm with furious rugby fans on Saturday after coverage of the Ireland v England Six Nations game was ‘cut short’
Change: While the game Ireland won 29-16 was shown until the end, the Grand Slam trophy presentation was not shown so Takeaway could continue (pictured: Johnny Sexton of Ireland celebrates with the Six Nations trophy)
Many viewers took to Twitter to express their frustrations, wondering if ITV should have the rights to rugby over the BBC.
One person wrote: ‘ITV just cut the 6 Nations Grand Slam presentation for the Saturday night takeaway JOKE!!! @SixNationsRuby gets shot from ITV!!!’
Someone else posted: ‘@ITVRugby and @ITV…Deciding to end rugby coverage before the trophy is lifted?? Over a Grand Slam year ??? Are you serious?!? This is precisely why the @bbc should have the important games. Absolute clowns.
Another viewer posted: ‘@ITVRugby @ITV you’re not even going to show the six nations trophy lift on the ITV channel the game was on?! Your coverage isn’t great at the best of times! Please don’t win any more rugby rights! #IREvENG’
Another person tweeted: ‘@ITVSport imagine showing the @SIxNationsRugby and cutting the program short before the trophy is lifted!! That’s why nobody wants it on ITV. Too many shocking pubs about Irish rugby!’
Another viewer wrote: ‘@ITV @ITVSport why can’t you save rugby for Ireland to lift the trophy on #ITV1 oh just for Ant & Dec!! You paid a load shedding for #SixNations and you’re only finishing at the end!!’
While someone else wrote: ‘If ITV is really showing Ant n Dec instead of the #6Nations trophy presentation why are they allowed to show rugby??
Saturday Night Takeaway has been moved out of its usual timeslot in a schedule shake-up to make way for Six Nations rugby, it was announced on Friday.
Opinion: Many viewers have taken to Twitter to vent their frustrations, wondering if ITV should have the rights to rugby over the BBC
Champs: Bundee Aki of Ireland celebrates his Grand Slam victory during the Six Nations rugby match between Ireland and England at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday
The ITV entertainment program aired later at 7.15pm as the channel hosted two rugby matches on Saturday.
Sporting events scheduled for the day included France v Wales, which kicked off at 1.55pm, while Ireland v England aired at 4.30pm.
As a result, fans tuning into Saturday Night Takeaway at its usual 7 p.m. time had to wait for it to start 15 minutes later, with the episode ending at 8:45 p.m.
It also meant that the rest of the ITV schedule would also be changed slightly, with Starstruck starting at 8.45pm, while The Jonathan Ross Show was due to take place at 9.55pm.
