The Rugby Broadcast Report: Issue 1 - Rugby TV Guide March 28-30
Never miss a game
Welcome to the first edition of the Rugby Broadcast Report. With over 52 hours of live rugby being shown this weekend, fans are set for a cracking weekend of fixtures. Coverage includes action from Super Rugby, URC, Premiership, Top 14, Women's 6 Nations, League One, MLR, Rugby Europe Championship & Trophy, AIL and SVNS.
In the URC, the race to finish in the top 8 continues with a number of standout fixtures, including a Welsh derby as Scarlets host Ospreys on Saturday at 3:00pm. Leinster continue their South African tour and will be looking to bounce back against the Sharks in Durban on Saturday at 5:15pm after suffering their first defeat of the season last weekend against the Bulls.
The story of the Super Rugby season so far has been the resurgence of the Australian sides. If the Reds beat Australian rivals Western Force on Saturday morning (8:35am) and certain other results go their way, they could find themselves on top of the log by the end of the round. In the Premiership, round 13 kicks-off on Friday night with Sale v Northampton at 7:45pm and coverage on TNT Sports continues across the weekend with a number of exciting games, including Bath v Harlequins at 3:05pm on Saturday, followed by Gloucester v Bristol at 5:30pm.
Of course there are plenty of other eagerly awaited fixtures this weekend, all of which are listed below.
Fixture of the weekend (admittedly biased)
Connacht v Munster (Saturday, 2:30pm). Over 27,000 fans will witness history as Connacht host rivals Munster at a sold out MacHale Park in Mayo. This exciting occasion will be Connacht’s biggest ever crowd for a “home” game and what better opposition to face than rivals Munster, who will have a number of Ireland players available for selection. Be sure not to miss it.
Quote of the week
This week’s quote of the week is courtesy of David Flatman, who is widely recognised as one of the best in the business at what he does. His general enthusiasm for the game, and for scrums in particular, is exactly what viewers want. In the clip below, Flatman provides excellent live, pitch side analysis of a scrum during Bath’s home game against Gloucester last week. The overwhelmingly positive reaction to this seemingly simple concept could encourage other broadcasters to follow suit. Rugby can be its own worst enemy at times and the constant criticism of scrums risks turning existing fans and potential new fans away from the game. Let’s embrace what makes rugby different.
“If you tell the viewers that scrums are boring and too complicated, they will eventually believe you."
Rugby media rights news
As reported last week, Premier Sports have picked up the TV rights to League One and MLR in Ireland and the UK for the next two seasons, with the option to extend further. MLR games will continue to be shown on the Rugby Network, while rights to League One have moved from RugbyPass TV to Premier Sports. Most of the games will be broadcast on the broadcaster’s new 24 hour rugby channel, Premier Sports Rugby. The channel has been live on the Premier Sports app since January in the UK only and launched this week on Virgin Media channel 553. Fans in Ireland will have to be patient as there is no confirmed launch date outside the UK for now.
TV guide, March 28-30:
Friday, March 28
2:30am: Hong Kong 7s (Sevens Series) - TNT Sports 2 / Discovery+ / NOW
6:05am: Brumbies W v Waratahs Women (Super Rugby Women) - RugbyPass TV
6:05am: Hurricanes v Waratahs (Super Rugby Pacific) - Sky Sports Mix / NOW
8:35am: Brumbies v Highlanders (Super Rugby Pacific) - Sky Sports Mix / NOW
7:35pm: Ulster v Stormers (URC) - BBC2 NI / Premier Sports 1 / iPlayer / TG4 / NOW / URC TV
7:35pm: Edinburgh v Dragons (URC) - BBC2 Wales / Premier Sports 2 / iPlayer / NOW / URC TV
7:45pm: Sale v Northampton (Premiership) - TNT Sports 1 / Discovery+ / NOW
Saturday, March 29
1:30am: Hong Kong 7s (Sevens Series) - TNT Sports 2 / Discovery+ / NOW
3:00am: Sungoliath v Blue Revs (League One) - Premier Sports Rugby
4:05am: Reds W v Force Women (Super Rugby Women) - RugbyPass TV
6:05am: Crusaders v Moana Pasifika (Super Rugby Pacific) - Sky Sports Action / NOW
8:35am: Reds v Western Force (Super Rugby Pacific) - Sky Sports Mix / NOW
12:00pm: Lithuania v Czech Republic (Rugby Europe Trophy) - Rugby Europe TV
12:45pm: Bulls v Zebre (URC) - Premier Sports 1 / URC TV
1:00pm: France v Scotland (Women’s Six Nations) - BBC iPlayer / Website / Virgin Media 2
1:30pm: Toulouse v Pau (Top 14) - Premier Sports Rugby
2:30pm: Connacht v Munster (URC) - Premier Sports 2 / TG4 / NOW / URC TV
2:30pm: UCD v Lansdowne (AIL) - YouTube
3:00pm: Scarlets v Ospreys (URC) - S4C / iPlayer / Premier Sports 1 / NOW / URC TV
3:00pm: Exeter v Newcastle (Premiership) - TNT Sports Extra / Discovery+
3:05pm: Bath v Harlequins (Premiership) - TNT Sports 1 / Discovery+ / NOW
3:30pm: Bayonne v Lyon (Top 14) - Premier Sports Rugby
4:00pm: Portugal W v Spain Women (Rugby Europe Championship) - Rugby Europe TV
4:45pm: Wales v England (Women’s Six Nations) - BBC 2 / BBC 1 Wales / iPlayer / RTE Player
5:00pm: Luxembourg v Sweden (Rugby Europe Trophy) - Rugby Europe TV
5:15pm: Sharks v Leinster (URC) - Premier Sports 2 / RTE 2 / NOW / URC TV
5:30pm: Gloucester v Bristol (Premiership) - TNT Sports 1 / Discovery+ / NOW
7:35pm: Benetton v Cardiff (URC) - S4C / iPlayer / Premier Sports 2 / NOW / URC TV
7:35pm: Glasgow v Lions (URC) - Premier Sports 1 / NOW / URC TV
8:05pm: Castres v Toulon (Top 14) - Premier Sports Rugby
10:00pm: RFC LA v Old Glory (MLR) - Rugby Network
11:00pm: NOLA Gold v Chicago (MLR) - Premier Sports Rugby / Rugby Network
Sunday, March 30
12:00am: Houston v SD Legion (MLR) - Rugby Network
2:00am: Seattle v Anthem Rugby (MLR) - Rugby Network
2:00am: Utah v Free Jacks (MLR) - Premier Sports Rugby / Rugby Network
3:00am: Hong Kong 7s (Sevens Series) - TNT Sports 2 / Discovery+ / NOW
4:05am: Reds W v Force Women (Super Rugby Women) - RugbyPass TV
5:05am: Yokohama v Verblitz (League One) - Premier Sports Rugby
3:00pm: Italy Women v Ireland W (Women’s Six Nations) - BBC 2 NI / BBC 1 Red Button / iPlayer / Virgin Media 1
3:00pm: Leicester v Saracens (Premiership) - TNT Sports 1 / Discovery+ / NOW
8:05pm: Racing 92 v Bordeaux (Top 14) - Premier Sports Rugby / Premier Sports 1 / NOW
Final thoughts
Thanks for reading the first edition of the Rugby Broadcast Report. If you have any feedback please share it below or reach out on Twitter or Bluesky. The newsletter will continue to evolve over the next few weeks and I’d be delighted to have you on board.