Behind the Mic with Groundbreaker Rikki Swannell

World Rugby talks to New Zealander Rikki Swannell about becoming the first female lead commentator on the men’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series and her life in sports broadcasting.

As an experienced sports broadcaster, Swannell is used to taking anything in her stride.

That was literally the case when, in 2011, she found herself broadcasting reports on the All Blacks’ Rugby World Cup win live into the Radio Sport through-the-night show in New Zealand as she hot-footed it back to the studio from a gridlocked Eden Park with car horns blaring in the background in celebration at the All Blacks win.

It is one of three Rugby World Cups Swannell has actively worked on, the first coming in 2003 when she was just 22. In Vancouver last month, she became the first female lead commentator on the men’s World Series and went on to call the Cup final between Argentina and Fiji.

“Sometimes getting it right means not saying anything or very little. You can’t put the words back in your mouth once they are out, and I have got better at not dwelling on it if it doesn’t quite come out right,” Swannell says.

Original article by World Rugby, May 20, 2022.