TNT Sports presenter shoved by coach in furious outburst during live broadcast | Rugby | Sport

TNT Sports presenter Craig Doyle felt the fury of Leicester Tigers head coach Geoff Parling during a live TV broadcast on Saturday. Doyle was at Villa Park to host the channel’s live coverage of the PREM Rugby fixture between the Tigers and Gloucester. Before kick-off, he was joined on the pitch by former footballer Liam MacDevitt as the two teams were warming up.

At one point, MacDevitt teed up a rugby ball and had a kick at goal, even though the Tigers players were going through drills underneath the posts. His kick sailed wide but it was enough to disrupt the warm-up procedure and Parling was left furious. He marched over and shoved Doyle out of the way, telling him to stop interfering in no uncertain terms.

Doyle thought Parling was coming over for an impromptu chat and innocently asked the Tigers boss: “Would you sign him, Geoff?”

Parling took no notice of the question, instead giving Doyle a firm shove and telling him: “That’s not on. It’s f****** not on. Get off the pitch.”

He imposed himself by standing over the TNT Sports presenter, who was sent walking away with his tail between his legs.

“Oh, sorry mate. Okay, Geoff wasn’t happy about that,” squeaked Doyle on his way back to the tunnel area. “Apologies for the language. Geoff understandably upset about that. Let’s just get off the pitch here for a second.”

Parling was a happier man at the final whistle, with his Tigers side running out 36-17 winners to maintain their play-off hopes.

Will Wand and Gabriel Hamer-Webb both scored early tries before a quickfire double from Jamie Blamire saw the Tigers race into a 22-point lead inside the opening 20 minutes.

Matias Alemanno responded for Gloucester but Armando Bailey cemented Leicester’s grip on the match with a fifth try before the interval.

Gloucester improved after the break and tries from Will Joseph and Dian Bleuler gave them hope of mounting an unlikely comeback.

However, it wasn’t to be as Harry Wells crossed in the closing stages to wrap up a comprehensive victory for Leicester.

The two teams were contesting the Slater Cup, played annually in honour of former Gloucester second row Ed Slater following his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.

Around 23,000 fans attended the fixture at Villa Park, with the proceeds from ticket sales going towards the 4Ed Foundation.

TNT Sports have the exclusive broadcast rights for PREM Rugby fixtures, paying around $40million per year for the privilege.