RAGING BULLS RTE One, Tuesday WITH Sky now enjoying exclusive rights to live Heineken Cup games, it would have been understandable had RTE decided to play down the significance of the competition. After all, Ulster and Munster have won it and Leinster, well, they're not going to (besides, the famed stereotype of Leinster supporters decrees that they can afford Murdoch's tariff, or a few pints of 'ken down the boozer. And before Fuming in Foxrock puts pen to Blackberry, I'd be delighted if proved wrong).

Happily, instead of feeling sorry for themselves and whinging about the government somehow forgetting to add Europe's biggest club rugby competition to its free to air list, the national broadcaster is making the best of what they've got. What they'll have on matchday is extended highlights of games involving the provinces and, as an appetiser, a discussion show which started last Wednesday night on RTE Two, presented by George Hook and Brent Pope.

Broadcasting live from the home of Young Munster in Rosbrien, the pair bounded onto a makeshift stage with George Hook introducing himself thus:

"My name is George Hook, I'm the star of the show, with periodic interjections from him, " pointing towards his putupon sidekick. With one line, taken straight from the vaudeville comedy duo handbook and delivered with aplomb, the tone of the show was set.

Hook is now something of a broadcasting phenomenon. He was able to anchor this show without letting the responsibility impinge on his loud and grandiose punditry. That massive head and voice just sucks in all the attention when he's on screen, something that becomes even more evident in the presence of a live audience. Hook was incapable of telling a bad joke; even some genuine no-gag-intended comments managed to raise a giggle.

Pope has to be the Ernie Wise, but for all the protestations of not being able to get a word in, he managed to offer plenty of opinion, particularly in what turned into a passionate debate between himself and guest Eddie Butler about the importance of, em, passion. Straight man he may be, but he knows his role and played it to perfection.

As it was, almost everyone lived up to their name; Hook was the reason you were watching the show, Butler politely and competently did as he was bid but unfortunately Pope didn't manage to offend any religious groups and therefore let this whole weak gag down badly.

What was most impressive about the whole exercise was how slick it was.

First-ever shows, particularly live broadcasts, can be forgiven for the odd slip or backtrack, but there was hardly anything to fault here.

Granted, Hook is now a seasoned live broadcaster, but the format wasn't anything that RTE have done before. Audience questions were incorporated smoothly, footage was cut in to illustrate discussion and the banter was entertaining.

It was actually hard to believe that this was going out live. The proof, apparently, was in the texts which every programme now feels obliged to invite from viewers.

These were never referenced in the show, but were scrolled along the bottom of the screen just like in The Sunday Game. It's a distraction there and it's the same here.

At least The Sunday Game texts provide some entertainment if you're in the pub and can't hear the pundits. But on a discussion show like this, they have to be either studiously ignored or allowed to distract you from what people are saying. One text asked what the panel thought of Ronan O'Gara's claims that the standard of the Magners League rugby is higher than the English Premiership.

Hard to see the point in showing a non-rhetorical question that nobody's going to answer. A small quibble, and one that will probably be rectified when the presenters have less to talk about as the season progresses.

The only gaffe from the presenters' point of view was a slightly fumbled finish, with Hook seemingly unwilling to let the programme end. You couldn't blame him. If this is what they were forced to come up with, maybe it's a shame they didn't lose the live rights before now.

Finally, and On the Air is nothing if not tenuous, Raging Bulls on RTE One looked at Fran Rooney and the rise and fall of Baltimore Technologies. Rooney, you may recall, subsequently spent a brief and unhappy time as chief executive of the FAI.

This was only given cursory mention in Tuesday night's programme, and the show had very little to do with sport, but it was superbly made and deserves a mention. RTE, with these fine and original homegrown shows you are spoiling us. Or, to put it more accurately, doing what you should be doing.