BBC's boasts turn out to be a lot of hot air

People who say "I told you so" are never popular. But, like the supporters of Millwall FC, I don't care. Several times over the years in this column I have advised both the Rugby Football Union and the Zurich Premiership clubs not to put their trust in Sky Television and Rupert Murdoch, who did not get where he is today through loyalty – certainly not to rugby union football.

At the moment the leading English clubs do not seem to have much to worry about. Sky provides a good service which looks as if it will continue, for the time being, at any rate. Stuart Barnes is one of the great masters (I suspect, unknowing) of the baroque metaphor. Long may he continue in business.

But some months ago the deal on internationals between Sky and the RFU came unstuck. This had given Sky exclusive rights over matches at Twickenham and over the France v England fixture in Paris as well. The rights have now reverted to the BBC, which provided the RFU with rather less money than it was expecting. Serve that greedy, selfish and conceited organisation jolly well right is what I say.

The broadcasters also insisted on rewriting the fixture list for the Six Nations' Championship to suit their own convenience. It was now their turn to be selfish and conceited. As the people with the power, this was what they duly proceeded to be.

Even so, I have not met one follower of the game who does not welcome the new arrangement – or, rather, the semi-reversion to the old arrangement. The RFU-Sky deal was a piece of blatant opportunism. It might have put an end to the championship in its traditional form. It was grossly unfair to the majority of fans who did not buy Mr Murdoch's service.

The so-called compromise whereby an edited – it turned out to be a highly edited – version of the match was shown on ITV later in the afternoon was quite unsatisfactory. As any serious follower of the game will tell you, the only true satisfaction lies in seeing a match uncut and live.

So it was welcome back, BBC. The Corporation, as is its habit in these huckstering times, responded with a string of boasts. Once again it was the leading, unrivalled sports broadcaster. In particular, it was committed to rugby. Last weekend I decided to test this claim.

For several days beforehand, every commentator had agreed that the Heineken European Cup was the outstanding competition in the northern hemisphere. In the interest it aroused, it was coming to rival even the Six Nations' Championship itself. This was all very true.

On Friday evening I wanted to see Neath v Leicester, which ended in a draw. This was not, I think, parochialism on my part. A huge number of English fans as well would have liked to see the venture of the English multi-champions into the badlands of West Glamorgan. Unless their sets had been equipped to receive BBC Wales – as mine is not – they would have been disappointed. The evening's proceedings were entirely ignored by the larger BBC network.

Next day, the Saturday, was more hopeful. BBC1's Grandstand gave us the whole of Gloucester v Munster, presided over by that engaging double-act of Eddie Butler and Brian Moore. They are engaging because they are intelligent, have a sense of humour and are not afraid to disagree with each other or with the referee – Moore being a particularly exigent critic in this respect.

On Sunday, I thought, BBC2's Grandstand would wrap up what had gone before. "Clips" are rarely a wholly satisfactory means of telling you what happened, as the old Rugby Special used to demonstrate weekly. Still, they are better than nothing. But there was not a clip in sight. Instead it was clip-clop all the way, with Paula Radcliffe going on and on, as is the way with marathons, and on and on and on.

But all was not lost. At 4.30 British Eurosport showed us Northampton v Ulster. On Saturday it had shown Toulouse v London Irish, and on Friday the much-fancied but somewhat disappointing Leinster v Bristol. I have always had a soft spot for British Eurosport because of its slightly shambolic character.

Last season the Irish presenter confidently informed us that Bourgoin was "in the heart of French rugby country". On the map it is halfway between Lyon and the Swiss border. One of the commentators the service has engaged for this season once told us with equal certainty that Colomiers was a suburb of Paris. As every schoolboy knows, it is a suburb of Toulouse.

But these are minor blemishes. All the lads need to do is brush up their French geography. They are certainly doing more for the Heineken Cup than the boastful BBC. Alas, most people cannot receive the service at all.