{"id":519664,"date":"2026-07-10T18:48:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T18:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/519664\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T18:48:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T18:48:08","slug":"media-insider-calling-it-meet-new-zealands-heir-apparent-tv-rugby-commentator-skys-jeff-mctainsh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/519664\/","title":{"rendered":"Media Insider: Calling it – meet New Zealand\u2019s heir apparent TV rugby commentator, Sky\u2019s Jeff McTainsh"},"content":{"rendered":"

That\u2019s not to write off Sky\u2019s hugely respected and long-time commentary box custodians, Grant Nisbett and Tony Johnson. \u201cNisbo\u201d will call the All Blacks-Italy match in his Wellington hometown today and \u201cT.J.\u201d will call the All Blacks-Ireland match in Auckland next week.<\/p>\n

\"GrantGrant Nisbett at Wellington’s Hnry Stadium. File photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

Nisbett will also be on the All Blacks\u2019 end-of-year northern tour – another big tour of duty for the 75-year-old who has called an incredible 350-plus test matches.<\/p>\n

While Nisbett and Johnson are still going strong, there seems little doubt that McTainsh is the heir apparent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a massive honour going to South Africa. It\u2019s a huge honour doing this job,\u201d McTainsh told Media Insider.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very, very passionate about the game, about New Zealand sport in general and about seeing Kiwis do well on the world stage. I\u2019m a sports journalist at heart. I\u2019m a sports fan at heart.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up with Grant Nisbett, I grew up with T.J. and the others around the world … listening to those guys growing up, they were the influences for me in terms of wanting to get into this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SkySky rugby commentator Tony Johnson.<\/p>\n

He described Nisbett and Johnson as the \u201cvoices of my generation and guys I\u2019ve looked up to\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve all been really generous with their time. We\u2019re all busy, but certainly earlier in my career, whenever I had a question or wanted to know how to go about something or get a few tips and things, both of those guys were really generous with their time.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also cited Ken Laban and Hamish McKay as big influences.<\/p>\n

\"SkySky TV commentator Jeff McTainsh.<\/p>\n

McTainsh, who grew up in Dunedin, has been in the media industry for two decades \u2013 firstly at MediaWorks as a journalist and news anchor, and then at Sky, originally as a producer, presenter and reporter.<\/p>\n

He has been commentating sport and rugby at different levels (including NPC and Super Rugby) for the past six years, and came to the fore last year, when Johnson became too unwell shortly before the All Blacks-Springboks test at Eden Park<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"AllAll Blacks halfback Cam Roigard celebrates a try during last week’s test against France in Christchurch. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

With less than two hours to kickoff, McTainsh \u2013 who had been calling a Ranfurly Shield game from the Sky TV studios at Mt Wellington, 8km away \u2013 came off the bench.<\/p>\n

For a match that might normally take two to three weeks\u2019 preparation, McTainsh had less than an hour. As he said at the time: \u201cI went upstairs to the commentary area, popped in, saw T.J. and just said, \u2018I\u2019m really, really sorry, mate\u2019. He was amazing \u2013 class.”<\/p>\n

His preparations for Christchurch last weekend were a little more orthodox.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of it being the first test at Te Kaha, it was a great occasion. My wife was actually in Christchurch with me for the weekend, and she said, as we were walking to the stadium for the game, \u2018Oh, this has got a real European vibe to it \u2013 the city and the atmosphere\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was more excited than nervous about the commentary, especially now with a few test matches under his belt, including that last-minute Eden Park appearance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t call these French players very often, but we do see them playing in the Top 14 and in the Six Nations. I have a fair idea of them, but I did have to make a special phone call to a friend of mine who\u2019s fluent in French to double-check a couple of names.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that was all par for the course. I certainly enjoyed it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was also excited and intrigued about the All Blacks\u2019 first outing under new coach Dave Rennie, a theme that ran through last week\u2019s test. \u201cTo that end, the way they played on the night was fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n

McTainsh will soon be packing his bags. He\u2019s part of Sky TV\u2019s commentary team heading to Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games, where he will be calling track cycling and swimming.<\/p>\n

Then it\u2019s on to South Africa and Baltimore for the All Blacks\u2019 Greatest Rivalry Tour. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I got the call and was told that I was heading to South Africa, I was blown away. It\u2019s obviously a massive tour for New Zealand, for the All Blacks. <\/p>\n

\u201cI just feel really, really honoured to have been entrusted with that responsibility.\u201d <\/p>\n

Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand\u2019s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"That\u2019s not to write off Sky\u2019s hugely respected and long-time commentary box custodians, Grant Nisbett and Tony Johnson.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":519665,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[125659,5842,11539,62034,2936,702,11540,11541,1073,9862,117,111,43,139,69,6327,61613,437,2963],"class_list":["post-519664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-apparent","tag-calling","tag-commentator","tag-heir","tag-insider","tag-it","tag-jeff","tag-mctainsh","tag-media","tag-meet","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-rugby","tag-skys","tag-tv","tag-zealands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/519665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}