[5] Before joining Channel 4, Nugent was an employee of Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) for many years, providing rugby union commentary from 1999[5] and later became the broadcaster's head of television sport.
[6][7] He transferred to RTÉ from his news desk position at Dublin radio station 98FM in 1995 to work as a sports presenter on the young people's television programme The Grip.
[5] In 2000, he was reported as having described Ireland's rugby union player and future captain, Brian O'Driscoll, in the early part of his career at the time, as being "a hard tackler" with "great hands".
[19] He provided commentary for all games in the 2009 Six Nations Championship, in which Ireland won the Grand Slam and Triple Crown for the first time since 1948, and appeared on The Cafe on 20 March just prior to this achievement.
[21] On 8 October 2011, Nugent did the commentary for Ireland's Rugby World Cup Quarter Final match against Wales, replacing Hugh Cahill as lead commentator.
[27][28] Nugent dresses in numerous layers to deliver his commentary, with The Irish Times once encountering him "wrapped in the sort of attire more accustomed to Johnny Fortycoats or an Arctic explorer, and with his sheepskin gloves holding onto his microphone for dear life".