How to watch Rugby this week/weekend
With the English Premiership and the URC now underway (Europe’s other domestic competition, France’s TOP14, is already four rounds in), many of you have asked how best to watch all the action this weekend and over the winter. There’s also Bledisloe 2 between New Zealand and Australia this weekend. We wanted to share our recommendation on how best to catch all the action in the most cost-effective way over the next nine months. For the Investec Champions and Challenge Cups, FLO Rugby has the rights for Canada again this year.
So here’s our recommendation for your winter Rugby viewing. Unfortunately, it does involve two subscriptions, and one requires a VPN for all but one of the competitions it broadcasts. For the Rugby Nations Championship, SANZAAR Tests, Six Nations, TOP14, and Super Rugby, go with Premier Sports Canada (no VPN required). For URC, English Premiership, and the Investec Champions Cup, FLO Rugby US has the rights (for URC and the Premiership you will need to connect to a VPN through a US server, though for the Investec Champions Cup you can watch without a VPN). Sportsnet is showing the Premiership and the URC but not the Champions Cup, making FLO the better deal and negating the need for three subscriptions instead of the two we’re proposing. The only missing link is Canadian Rugby, both Men’s and Women’s, which, as a Canadian rugby fan, you won’t want to miss, especially the Women given their standing and their three-Test Series with England this fall. However, during those months when our Canadian Women and Men are playing, bite the bullet and take out a month’s TSN subscription to cover it. In short, go with FLO Rugby and Premier Sports, and that will pretty much have you covered for winter Rugby.
This weekend brings plenty to get excited about, with all three European Domestic Leagues, TOP14, Premiership Rugby, and the URC, taking a break for this month’s Round of the Investec Champions Cup and the first Round of Pool matches in the Challenge Cup. However, the most exciting event for us rugby fans in Canada is Canada’s Women taking on England at the BMO Field here in Toronto Friday night. For International Rugby Fans, Bledisloe 2 sees Australia and New Zealand do battle in Sydney, even though New Zealand won the Cup with an emphatic win over the Wallabies last weekend.
With the European League seasons now underway, many of you have been asking who’s showing what in this country. The good news is it’s become slightly easier, even though all three European Competitions are spread across three providers and require up to three subscriptions; see our recommendations at the top of the page for the most cost-effective way to maximize your Rugby viewing budget this winter. We’re still waiting on final details for the Investec Champions and Challenge Cups, but FLO has the rights again for Canada this year.
English Premiership – Sportsnet and also FLO Rugby US with a VPN (both platforms offering live and on-demand)
French TOP 14 – Premier Sports Canada (live and on-demand)
United Rugby Championship – URC TV – annual pass now allows live and on-demand viewing. However, 2 matches a week will also be on Sportsnet and won’t be available live on URC TV, but ALL games will be available on demand on URC TV as soon as the final whistle blows. Not the best arrangement, but at least it’s relatively centralized. An annual pass costs approximately $72 CDN. The other option is FLO Rugby out of the US with a VPN (live and on demand)
European Champions Cup and Challenge Cup – Like last year, you can watch the action on FLO Rugby US without a VPN, and this year it kicks off in its usual timeframe of October.
As you may recall, if you’ve used this page in the past to watch Rugby in Canada, we previously included all the details and step-by-step instructions for signing up for the various services. We still do, but based on feedback from most users who have successfully set up the different services, we’ve moved the exact mechanics for each service to the bottom of the page.
SANZAAR Internationals
The Bledisloe Series between Australia and New Zealand concludes this weekend. After Australia’s unlikely heroics against South Africa in Perth last month, you won’t want to miss these two games. Both are on Premier Sports and Stan Sport Australia. The All Blacks have secured the Cup, but Australia have a habit of throwing the form book out the window in the last year, so Round 2 could still be one of the year’s biggest wild-card games, especially with Australia having everything to prove to their home crowd a year out from next year’s World Cup in Australia. The action takes place live in the wee hours of Saturday morning, but if you don’t want to get up that early, you can watch it on demand.
Australia vs New Zealand – Saturday, October 17th – 12:50 AM (Eastern) – Premier Sports and Stan Sport Australia (live and on demand)
WXV
The WXV is a bumper crop of action. Apart from Canada’s games, which are on TSN, you can catch the rest for free on Rugby Pass TV. The competition resumes this weekend, with huge interest here in Canada: home games for our fabulous women at BMO Field in Toronto and TD Place Ottawa against England. The first game is this Friday in Toronto. We’ll be there cheering on our fabulous women, and we hope you will be too. Tickets are still available, but demand has been excellent, and it looks set to be the biggest crowd ever to attend a Women’s game in North America.
France also Tours New Zealand for three matches, with the first this Friday in Waikato, and it should deliver some thrilling games. You can catch it for free on Rugby Pass TV.
Canada vs England – Friday, October 16th – 7:00 PM (Eastern) – TSN 3 and 4 (live and on demand)
New Zealand vs France – Friday, October 16th – 10:05 AM (Eastern) – Rugby Pass TV (live and on demand)
If you missed last month’s action, here are some of the highlights:
Investec Champions and European Challenge Cups
The annual European Championship, which includes teams from all three European Leagues, the English Premiership, France’s TOP14, and the URC (which also includes South African teams), kicks off its first Round of Pool matches this weekend. As with all other European competitions, we’ll share details each week. We won’t list every game, just the ones we’ve picked as the best of the bunch. Obviously, if you support a team, that’s what you’ll be watching, but if you’re neutral or curious about the other games, here are our picks in both the Champions Cup and the Tier 2 Challenge Cup.
The action kicks off on Friday, so in the Champions Cup our pick is the only game of the day, but it should be an absolute cracker. Gloucester, who are setting the English Premiership on fire, host defending Champions Bordeaux. In the Challenge Cup on Friday, there are two games, but our pick is Edinburgh, who will host Toulon. Toulon are a giant of the competition but are struggling for consistency, while Edinburgh have had a huge start to their URC campaign and sit at the top of the table.
On Saturday morning in the Champions Cup, our pick is South Africa’s Stormers hosting England’s Bristol Bears in the Mother City. Bristol have shown genuine promise every year, but consistency and travel aren’t their strong suits, while the Stormers provide a significant part of the Springbok contingent. In the Challenge Cup Saturday morning, it’s probably a dead rubber fixture, but can Georgia’s Black Lions in Tbilisi finally take their game to another level against Ospreys? On Saturday afternoon, in the Champions Cup, Bath hosting last year’s TOP14 runners-up and Challenge Cup winners, Montpellier, should be a seriously entertaining affair. In the Challenge Cup, only one game separates Scarlets and Newcastle, which may not be the most exciting fare on offer but could still surprise.
Finally, on Sunday morning, Leicester’s visit to Pau should be really exciting in the Champions Cup, while in the Challenge Cup Vannes travelling to Harlequins could finally provide the tonic to snap the English side out of their dreadful start to the season. Last but not least, on Sunday afternoon in the Champions Cup, Cardiff travelling to Northampton could offer a potential cricket score, and in the Challenge Cup, Castres hosting Italian side Benetton could be an interesting affair.
Champions Cup
Gloucester vs Bordeaux – Friday, October 16th – 3:00 PM (Eastern) – FLO Rugby (live and on demand no VPN required)
Stormers vs Bristol Bears – Saturday, October 17th – 10:15 AM (Eastern) – FLO Rugby (live and on demand no VPN required)
Bath vs Montpellier – Saturday, October 17th – 3:00 PM (Eastern) – FLO Rugby (live and on demand no VPN required)
Pau vs Leicester – Sunday, October 18th – 8:00 AM (Eastern) – FLO Rugby (live and on demand no VPN required)
Northampton vs Cardiff – Sunday, October 18th – 12:30 PM (Eastern) – FLO Rugby (live and on demand no VPN required)
Challenge Cup
Edinburgh vs RC Toulon – Friday, October 16th – 3:00 PM (Eastern) – FLO Rugby (live and on demand no VPN required)
Black Lion vs Ospreys – Saturday, October 17th – 8:00 AM (Eastern) – FLO Rugby (live and on demand no VPN required)
Scarlets vs Newcastle – Saturday, October 17th – 3:00 PM (Eastern) – FLO Rugby (live and on demand no VPN required)
Harlequins vs Vannes – Sunday, October 18th – 8:00 AM (Eastern) – FLO Rugby (live and on demand no VPN required)
Castres vs Benetton Rugby – Sunday, October 18th – 12:30 PM (Eastern) – FLO Rugby (live and on demand no VPN required)
URC
One of our favourite Club competitions, with teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Wales and South Africa, continues this weekend. As we list our picks for the weekend across all three European competitions, we won’t share the full listings, just the ones we’ve picked out. Obviously, if you have a favourite team, focus there, and you can get the full listings from either Sportsnet World or FLO Rugby for kickoff times. There’s no action this weekend with all the teams focusing on European Competition in the Champions and Challenge Cups.
The action kicks off Friday afternoon, and our pickforf the afternoon’s fixtures is the matchup between Ireland’s Connacht and Scotland’s Glasgow Warriors, with Connacht in particular needing a win on their road trip. On Saturday morning, our pick is the South African derby between the Bulls and Lions at Loftus Versfeld, with the Lions looking a decidedly hot property so far this season. Finally, on Saturday afternoon, we’re looking forward to an Irish derby between Ulster and Munster in Belfast.
TOP14
France’s elite domestic competition is in full swing, and we can now watch it here in Canada on Premier Sports. If you have a favourite team, focus on that, and you can find full listings on Premier Sports Canada or FLO Rugby.
There’s no action this weekend, as all the teams focus on European Competition in the Champions and Challenge Cups.
Premiership Rugby
England’s showpiece tournament of Club rugby continues this weekend, and here are our picks. Obviously, if you have a favourite team, focus there, and you can find full listings on Sportsnet World or FLO Rugby for kickoff times. There’s no action this weekend with all the teams focusing on European Competition in the Champions and Challenge Cups.
Greatest Rivalry Tour
Whether you liked the idea or not, or were, like us, slightly disappointed that this has replaced the Rugby Championship every other year, we’d be surprised if you weren’t interested. It’s essentially an old-school tour: New Zealand tours South Africa and plays all four URC provincial sides, the Lions, Bulls, Stormers, and Sharks, then 4 Tests against the Springboks. The 4th Test, however, wasn’t played in South Africa; instead, it was a blatant cash grab: it was played in Baltimore, USA. What if the fourth Test had ended in a draw? We found this approach unsatisfying, and we would have preferred to stick to the traditional three-Test format. Oh well!!
The action concluded as New Zealand played their final Test of the Tour in Baltimore against the Springboks. Like we’ve already said, in our eyes the Series was decided that last weekend in South Africa, with the Springboks emerging triumphant 2-1. No quarter was given in the final weekend, and it was a terrific Test in Baltimore, with pride, passion, and reputations at stake, but not quite a Series decider, at least in our eyes, even if New Zealand emerged the victors in a deeply unsatisfying 2-2 draw. As mentioned above, Premier Sports Canada and Stan Sport Australia showed the ENTIRE Tour.
If you missed the games, here are the highlights:
These games are essentially replacing the Rugby Championship for Australia and Argentina this year. Argentina now have no more fixtures, unfortunately, before their Rugby Nations Championship campaign resumes in November. Australia, however, will play South Africa at the end of the month and then New Zealand; in October, New Zealand and Australia will meet twice for the Bledisloe Cup.
Pacific Nations Cup
Canada’s Men played the USA in the third-place playoff for the Pacific Nations Cup. We were seriously impressed by Canada’s performance against Fiji in the Semi-Final, and by the grit and staying power they showed last weekend against the USA to secure that third-place finish in the Pacific Nations Cup. If they can keep playing with that kind of power, commitment, and precision, brighter days are ahead, especially heading into the Rugby Nations Cup in November.
Here are the highlights of that third-place playoff:
Canadian Rugby
With no teams from North of the 49th Parallel represented in this year’s MLR, and Canadian players now regarded as tariffable commodities, only a handful of Canadians remain in the league, so we’ve lost interest. As a result, we have fewer opportunities to catch Canadian players in action, apart from our stellar Women’s team. However, a big shout-out to Brian Barber on the West Coast for this gem of information about how to watch BC rugby.
Visit BC Rugby News for local and national news, plus access to full match recordings with a $20/yr subscription.
Major League Rugby
With no Canadian teams in the league this year, it is an All-American affair and therefore of somewhat diminished interest to us here in Canada, especially now that Canadian players are regarded as tariffable commodities. Without the mega amounts of money involved in something like the NHL, only a handful of Canadian players are in the MLR, further reducing our interest in a league that seems to be struggling to make any sort of impact on the North American sporting landscape. This year’s action kicks off on March 28th, and you can catch all the games live and on demand for free on the Rugby Network.
YouTube wrap-up for the Week and general internet listings for the following international Rugby
Our YouTube favourite is Squidge Rugby. He and his brothers’ highly entertaining and insightful videos on our glorious sport have been The Lineout’s number-one YouTube go-to for quite some time. The videos are well put together, and the analysis is absolutely top drawer. They offer fascinating insights and have production values that are both highly amusing and ingenious. Well worth your time, and likely to put a smile on your face over a cup of coffee and give you talking points with your rugby mates. Here are his and his brother’s latest efforts, always worth a watch.
Here’s the link to his two channels:
https://www.youtube.com/@SquidgeRugby/featured
https://www.youtube.com/@SquidgeRugby2
For a contrasting opinion from New Zealand and our other fan favourite, we also really like Two Cents Rugby on YouTube. Mark is an enthusiastic Kiwi fan who knows his players and the game and probably has the most extensive rugby jersey collection on the net. Along with the mighty Squidge, his opinions are so respected that both are now regular contributors to Planet Rugby.
Here are his views on the Week’s action and coming weekend:
And here’s the link to his channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@TwoCentsRugby
In our opinion, Eggchasers is the most enjoyable as an objective English perspective on the global game. Like all these outstanding YouTubers, support this work; it’s solid content. Tim has had a lot going on over the last few weeks, so as he says, get stuck in and subscribe; it’s time well spent. Here are his latest offerings:
https://www.youtube.com/@EggchasersRugby
And from South Africa, here’s the superb and always short-but-to-the-point Riaan Louw. Get behind his work and enjoy this latest addition to our roundup of contrasting views from around the globe. He reviewed the new Chasing the Sun documentary, which profiles the Springboks’ successful 2023 World Cup campaign and is now available to watch here in Canada. Series 1, which profiled South Africa’s 2019 World Cup win, is also available in Canada on Rugby Pass TV for free, so go catch it; see link below. He appears to have gone off the air for the last few months, but hopefully this teaser video means he’s back soon:
Talking of Chasing the Sun Seasons 1 and 2, which chronicled South Africa’s 2019 and 2023 World Cup triumphs, you can catch them for free on Rugby Pass TV; see link below, though apparently now they only seem to have the trailers recently, so not sure if it is still going to be available – will keep you posted. Just sign up for a free account. You can also catch Season 1 in its entirety on YouTube in a rather convoluted way; just search for Chasing the Sun, and it’s about an 18-video playlist.
https://rugbypass.tv/section/Springboks
In a similar vein is the All Blacks story of their journey to and through the 2023 Rugby World Cup, All Blacks In Their Own Words 2, which is free and on YouTube; see below,w as well as the New Zealand Rugby+ website, te as well as Together We Walk, an 11-episode series on the All Blacks’ life under new Coach Scott Robertson:
https://www.allblacks.com/nzrplus/media
Our favourite site is Rugby Pass, which some of you may remember used to broadcast huge amounts of Rugby out of Hong Kong and was a lifeline for many of us with a VPN in the days when accessing international Rugby in this country was like trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack. Although they are no longer in the broadcasting business, their site hosts a huge amount of rugby content and articles on the various aspects of the modern international game. They offer documentary videos and weekly specials, plus a ton of in-depth rugby journalism, and like Ultimate Rugby, it’s a good place to go if you like your stats. We also appreciate that it’s a great place for news on the Women’s side of the game, which sadly a lot of other rugby media neglect. It’s mostly free, but for a $10 CDN annual fee, you get additional access to premium video content and articles. It’s well worth a visit:
One of the most comprehensive sites for International Rugby news is, without doubt, Planet Rugby. However, we feel they’ve been going for quantity over quality in their journalism recently, and, as far as they are concerned, the women’s side of the game doesn’t seem to exist. However, it’s still a useful clearinghouse of rugby news; see link below:
If you can’t watch the games online or on television, they also offer a very useful live-tracking feature for all the big games, including the Six Nations, Super Rugby, and the World Cup. This lets you get minute-by-minute updates on your computer or smartphone as the games progress. If you’re on the road, this is a fabulous tool and, best of all, it’s free, along with their excellent coverage of the world game and discussion forums (but be prepared to be shot down in flames by some of the more die-hard fans if they feel your opinions aren’t well founded). If you’re a rugby fanatic, you’ll easily lose time on this website, and it’s well worth a weekly or daily visit.
Another source of excellent international rugby coverage, especially for video, is Ultimate Rugby. Its video coverage includes highlights, interviews, and other interesting rugby trivia, and it’s a great place to go if you love your stats. Nicely produced and well worth your time. It also has a live match tracker like Planet Rugby, and one you can actually post comments on as the action unfolds, which is a nice feature.
There is a series on Amazon Prime documenting the All Blacks’ 2017 season, “All or Nothing,“ which had plenty of ups and downs similar to the roller coaster ride the team is on at the moment. There are a lot of fascinating parallels with last year, and insight into some of the personalities involved, so it’s well worth a watch – see the link below for a description, and if you’re a Prime member, it’s well worth a watch:
https://www.primevideo.com/detail/0PYZDJFM7UAHE0SMHZXPPIW9YF/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r
As always, thanks to everyone for checking in and helping us reach over 100,000 visitors, including 800+ regular followers.
Take care, everyone, and stay safe. If you ever want to show friends new to the sport what it means to the players involved and the spirit of the sport, here are two little gems from Tim at Eggchasers.
Providers that work in Canada for showing Rugby, Who Shows What and how to access it
Here’s a quick summary of who shows what in Canada.
Premier Sports Canada (no VPN required): Six Nations, Super Rugby and the new Rugby Nations Championship.
Flo Rugby (VPN to a US Server required for everything except Champions and Challenge Cup): URC (Investec, formerly Heineken), Champions Cup and Challenge Cup, TOP 14, Rugby Championship, Summer Internationals, but unfortunately it won’t show the Autumn Internationals this year.
Sportsnet+ (No VPN required) – URC and Premiership Rugby
DAZN (No VPN required): It looks like DAZN no longer shows Rugby in Canada as of 2026.
Stan Sport (VPN to an Australian server required) – Premiership Rugby, Lions Tour, Super Rugby Pacific, Six Nations, The Rugby Championship, Summer and Fall Internationals – however, as of June, it seems this service is no longer accepting payments with a Canadian credit card for the Sports add-on.
TSN+ (No VPN required) -They’re broadcasting this year’s Super Rugby Pacific tournament. They’ll show the Summer Tours in the Southern Hemisphere, except the Lions Series, along with the Rugby Championship starting in August. They will also broadcast the Pacific Nations Cup and Canada’s Women’s warm-up games before the World Cup against South Africa and the USA, along with the Women’s World Cup itself starting at the end of August.
There’s also a new service that shows pretty much every game, Club and international, within a few hours after it ends, for free. It requires no fee, subscription or VPN. The feed quality is generally good worldwide, though we have had issues around the 20-minute mark in past broadcasts. It seems to be working better this year. rugby24.net. However, it seems prone to viruses and Trojan horses and appears to operate out of Russia, so use it with extreme caution.
Here’s what we know:
Summer Tests and Tours: Stan Sport Australia and FLO Rugby US are solid options.
Autumn Internationals (Replaced this year by the Rugby Nations Championship): Premier Sports Canada and Stan Sport. Premier Sports Canada doesn’t require a VPN, but Stan does. Both platforms offer live and on-demand games.
Premiership Rugby (England): Sportsnet+ and Stan Sport Australia
United Rugby Championship (replaces the PRO14): FLO Rugby and Sportsnet+, plus some games free-to-air on a mix of BBC and RTÉ Ireland. URC TV also doesn’t require a VPN. Sportsnet+ is also showing the URC, but given its limited coverage, high price, and spotty on-demand availability, we don’t recommend it.
Investec (formerly Heineken) Champions and Challenge Cup – FLO Rugby (live and on demand and without the need for a VPN). Some games will also be available live and on demand on a mix of the UK’s Channel 4, BBC, RTE Ireland, and France 2.
Rugby Championship: Premier Sports Canada, TSN+, Stan Sport, and Flo Rugby, with all 3 offering better on-demand coverage than TSN.
TOP 14 (France) – FLO Rugby with a VPN. The French service Canal+ will also broadcast it, but even with a VPN, it seems impossible to pay without a French credit card. We’ll keep you posted.
Pacific Four Series – TSN, Stan Sport Australia, and Rugby Pass TV (live and on demand). Rugby Pass TV requires a free account, but as long as you are connected to a VPN and a non-Canadian/Australian/New Zealand or US server, you can watch for free.
Pacific Nations Cup – TSN (terrestrial channels) and Stan Sport Australia live and on demand.
Six Nations (Men’s and Women’s) – Premier Sports Canada, Stan Sport (and free on BBC and ITV with a VPN). FLO Rugby also has it, but games are only available on demand a week after they’re played, so it’s not much use. FLO Rugby has only the Women’s Six Nations and requires a VPN.
Super Rugby Pacific – Premier Sports Canada, TSN+, Stan Sport Australia, and FLO Rugby, with the latter two having the superior on-demand coverage.
Japan Rugby League One – Rugby Pass TV (so far doesn’t require a VPN)
Major League Rugby – The Rugby Network for live and on-demand coverage
WXV – A new annual women’s tournament set up by World Rugby and played in October/November. Canada will feature in the Top Tier and, as a result, TSN and Stan Sport will broadcast all the Tier 1 games, with Stan also covering the Tier 2 and 3 action. Rugby Pass TV will be available for the other Tiers in the competition, free of charge.
As things change, we’ll keep you updated, especially if the tier options become available. As several of you have pointed out, for some of the Club competitions such as the URC and Heineken Cup, you can often get games on YouTube for free, sometimes only a few hours after the games have been played live, but scouring the net can often give the score away if you’re not careful and if that’s an important criterion for your Rugby viewing enjoyment,t then be warned – but it’s still an option if you’re reluctant to shell out.
Providers that work in Canada
Like we say, Premier Sports Asia has long been our preferred viewing source, and although it does require accessing it through a VPN and a Hong Kong/Singapore server to view, despite it having more content in terms of competitions than its Canadian equivalent, the days of us being able to access it here in Canada even with a VPN are now officially over, sadly.
New to Canada this year is Premier Sports Canada, which will show Super Rugby, the Six Nations, and the new Rugby Nations Championship. It costs the same as the Asian service and does not require a VPN.
https://www.premiersports.com/
FLO Rugby is another US option for us here in Canada. It has much of the same content as Premier Sports Asia, except for the Six Nations, Autumn Internationals, and Premiership. Still, it’s a wee bit more expensive at almost $50 CDN monthly, though quite reasonable at $200 CDN a year. Despite their customer service team saying you don’t need a VPN connected to a US server, we have been unable to do so without one. Like Premier, its online service is generally very good, and its feed quality is sometimes slightly higher than Premier’s. You can also subscribe to FLO Rugby in Canada. When you log into your account, you can watch the Champions and Challenge Cup games without a VPN, but if you try to watch any of the other games on the site, like TOP 14, Super Rugby or the URC, you will need to be connected to a VPN linked to a US server. It’s an increasingly solid service, and although it doesn’t have as much content as Premier, it’s becoming a strong choice. As noted at the start of this section, the service sometimes has real issues with Chrome and is currently having problems. However, fear not: it works fine with Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Safari (for Mac/iPad users).
https://www.florugby.com/signup?go=%2F
Our other new option in this country was Stan Sport Australia. However, accessing it required a VPN connected to an Australian server. Important note: you can only access it via the website on a computer or an iPad, and it seems you can no longer pay for it with a Canadian credit card. So, Officiel 172 K: until further notice, this is no longer an option, so beware even if you’re connected through a VPN to an Australian server. If you try to access it through the website on your phone, even with a VPN, it will require you to download the app, which won’t work even with a VPN, so it’s computer/iPad or nothing. However, it is pretty straightforward: you can connect your laptop to your TV with an HDMI cable. It did cost approximately $21 CDN a month. Please get a Stan Basic subscription for $10 AUD a month, then add Stan Sport for $15 AUD a month. The full package was $25 AUD a month, which worked out to about $21 CDN. It covers Super Rugby Pacific and the Six Nations, plus the Summer and Fall Tour when it resumes, and this summer’s Lions Tour to Australia. It’s an excellent feed with superb live and on-demand coverage, and we’ll keep you updated if the access situation changes. We think it may be due to the Lions Tour’s exclusivity and is a one-off, but we’ll let you know.
You will need an Australian postal code to use it, but that is not a problem. We chose a random caravan park in Australia, used it as our address, accessed its content with no issues, and paid with a Canadian credit card. Please remember to connect to an Australian server through a VPN when accessing the site’s content. Important note: Unlike many overseas sites, you must log in to/create your Stan account without being connected to an Australian server via a VPN, but once logged in, you will need to connect to an Australian server via a VPN to watch any content. Also, because we have only managed to get it working on a computer through the website, you’ll need to connect your laptop to your TV via an HDMI cable unless you can also connect your Chromecast to the same Australian server.
TSN+ had Super Rugby Pacific again this year and costs only $8 a month, with full live and on-demand access, which is useful if you forget to set up that PVR. Also, their on-demand coverage can be a bit hit-and-miss, but unlike Stan Sport, FLO Rugby, Premier Sports Asia, and others, you don’t need a VPN, which makes it much easier to cast to your TV. Our biggest issue with TSN is that they often leave us in suspense about what they’ll show until hours before kickoff, or, as happened last weekend, they completely miss a round of competition. In short, they are not a very reliable rugby broadcaster, and their content is limited. They also show the WXV Top Tier, the annual global women’s competition. Here is their Super Rugby Pacific and International Rugby Broadcast Schedule. They will also show Canada’s Men’s Team and their two July games against Spain and Belgium, as well as the Women’s World Cup in August. Many of these will also air on TSN’s TV channels, so you’ll need an additional subscription on top of TSN+ (just to be clear).
Sportsnet+ has the URC and English Premiership, but it’s expensive at $35 a month or $250 a year CDN, especially since it covers only two competitions; their live and on-demand coverage is fairly good. Here is the link to subscribe:
https://secure.sportsnetplus.ca/pricing
DAZN has now stopped providing Rugby in Canada for the foreseeable future.
For those interested in the English Premiership along with MLR, you can catch all the games live and on demand for free on the US-based Rugby Network. You will need to be connected to a US server to watch the Premiership games, though.
https://www.therugbynetwork.com/
For those interested in Japan Rugby League One, the top domestic competition in Japan featuring many big-name internationals, you can catch that action for free on Rugby Pass TV. You’ll need to sign up for an account, but it’s free. They will also be showing all of the Vancouver Sevens.
You can also catch the lower-level tiers of the WXV on Rugby Pass TV, a site with other interesting rugby content.
As always, a big shout-out to Brian Barber in Victoria, who continues to excel at digging up some of these viewing sources.
We did add a Podcast to our repertoire. It is available on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify, among others. However, we did struggle to keep it regular. With the demands of keeping a regular blog out, which seems to get far more attention, we’ve put the Podcast on hold indefinitely, as the relatively low interest compared to the blog doesn’t justify the effort.
We often compete in SuperBru Pools just for fun. For those not familiar, it’s a fun predictor game: no betting or financial transactions, and it’s free. All you have to do is set up a profile, join in, and see how your rugby knowledge matches your ability to predict accurate results. If you watch Two Cents Rugby, you’ll know he’s a big fan of the service and, from what we can gather, pretty good at it.
