How to watch Rugby this week/weekend
The Greatest Rivalry Tour between South Africa and New Zealand continues this Week with the third and final Test in South Africa, and as far as we are concerned, regardless of what happens in Baltimore a week later – the series decider in Johannesburg. Whatever your feelings about it replacing the traditional Rugby Championship at this time of the year, we’d be surprised if you weren’t more than a little interested to see it all pan out. Also in Argentina, the Pumas and Australia do battle in the second of two Tests, with much to prove for both sides, especially with the Wallabies under new management.
Quite a few of you have been asking who will be broadcasting the “Greatest Rivalry Tour” between South Africa and New Zealand. It’s now official: Premier Sports Canada will broadcast the whole series, and fortunately their initial teething problems with becoming an official Rugby broadcaster in Canada seem to be behind them. They will also have Australia’s games against Argentina, and we imagine they’ll probably also have the Bledisloe series between Australia and New Zealand in the fall, along with the conclusion of the Rugby Nations Championship in November. Given they already have the Six Nations, it looks like we’ll finally have a one-stop shop after all these years, at least for International Test Rugby (now if they could just get the Champions League, URC and the English Premiership, wouldn’t life be wonderful – they do have France’s TOP 14 for us this year).
With the European League seasons just around the corner, many of you have been asking who’s showing what in this country. The good news is that it has become slightly easier, even if all three European Competitions are spread across three providers, requiring up to three subscriptions.
English Premiership – Sportsnet and also FLO Rugby US with a VPN (both platforms offering live and oon-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.
Greatest Rivalry Tour
Whether you like the idea or not, or are, like us, slightly disappointed that this has superseded the Rugby Championship every other year, we’d be surprised if you’re not interested. It essentially comprises an old-school Tour with New Zealand touring South Africa and playing all four provincial sides as represented in the URC, the Lions, Bulls, Stormers and Sharks and then 4 Tests against the Springboks. The 4th Test, however, is not being played in South Africa and instead is a blatant cash grab if you ask us to play in the USA in Baltimore. What happens if, as a result of the fourth Test, the series ends in a draw? We found this approach unsatisfying, and it would have been much preferable to stick to the traditional three-Test format. Oh well!!
The action resumes this Saturday as New Zealand play their final Test of the Tour in South Africa against the Springboks at Johannesburg’s FNB Stadium. As mentioned above, Premier Sports Canada and Stan Sport Australia are showing the ENTIRE Tour.
South Africa vs New Zealand – Saturday, September 5th – 9:55 AM (Eastern) – Premier Sports Canada and Stan Sport Australia (live and on demand)
If you have missed the games so far here are the highlights:
SANZAAR Internationals
These are essentially replacing the Rugby Championship this year for Australia and Argentina, and this Saturday the two play each other in the second of a two-test tour to Argentina for Australia. Argentina has plenty to prove after a much-improved performance against the Springboks a few weeks ago, and they’ll look to atone for a poor Rugby Nations Championship in July. For Australia, there is everything to prove in only new Coach Les Kiss’ fourth game in charge. His tenure got off to a shaky start in their first Test against Japan but dramatically improved in the second. However, Argentina at home, with a stacked squad, is a very different and more challenging proposition.
Argentina vs Australia – Saturday, September 5th – 3:50 PM (Eastern) – Premier Sports Canada and Stan Sport Australia (live and on demand)
Here are the highlights of last weekend’s contest:
Rugby Nations Championship
We’ve said enough about the controversy surrounding the travel arrangements for the July round of this competition, but there were some decent matches. The much more sensible November round, which takes place entirely in the Northern Hemisphere unlike the ridiculous travel arrangements of the July leg, should be a much more even and hotly contested affair. The competition is being shown live and on demand on Premier Sports Canada and Stan Sport Australia.
If you missed the highlights of the first three rounds, here are all eighteen games:
Rugby Nations Cup
The second-tier competition for the Rugby Nations Championship appears much better organized, with teams grouped in one location to play their round of three matches, where distances are long or within a region to minimize travel. What’s of interest to us here in Canada is the fact that Canada will have a golden opportunity this year to get some serious Test experience under their belt. Over the next three weeks, they will play Spain, Portugal and Hong Kong China, followed by a weekend of Finals to determine their ranking in the competition.
TSN+ showed all of Canada’s games live and on demand; see link below for Rugby Pass.
Although Canada had to settle for a draw with Spain in the opening round, the 84-point try fest between the two was extraordinary stuff but certainly raised questions about both sides’ defensive strengths. Unfortunately, things didn’t improve against Portugal. A scrappy win over Zimbabwe meant that Canada didn’t exactly finish top of the pops after the first stage of the competition and had to finish fifth in their Pool, which will make a run at any kind of silverware challenging come the next phase in Europe in November, especially considering they will have to face Georgia and Romania at home. Here are the extended highlights.
Canadian Rugby
This weekend Canada’s Men play Japan, although the game is not technically part of this year’s slightly altered Pacific Nations Cup.
Japan vs Canada – Saturday, September 5th – 1:36 AM (Eastern) – TSN Premium (live and hopefully on demand)
Canada’s Women will participate, as they usually do, in the Pacific Four competition starting in April this year, followed by a three-match series with England in September/October, with two of those matches played here in Canada. In addition, over that timeframe, they will also play France and Scotland as part of this year’s WXV tournament.
With no teams from North of the 49th Parallel represented in this year’s MLR, and Canadian players now being regarded as tariffable commodities in the MLR, resulting in only a handful of Canadian players left in the league, we’ve lost interest in it. Consequently, we are a bit short on 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 regarding the ability to watch BC rugby.
Visit BC Rugby News for local and national news, plus access to recorded full matches 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, it means there are now only a handful of Canadian players in the MLR, further reducing our interest in a league that appears 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’ll be able to 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 now. 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 more than likely to put a smile on your face over a cup of coffee and provide some talking points with your rugby mates. Here are his and his brother’s latest efforts, which are always well 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 upcoming 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. As with all of these outstanding YouTubers, get behind his work and support his solid content. Lots of stuff from Tim over the last few weeks, so as he says, please get stuck in and make sure you subscribe – it’s time really well spent. Here is his views on the Greatest Rivalry Tour so far:
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 this country on Rugby Pass TV, which is 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. There are documentary videos and weekly specials, as well as a ton of in-depth rugby journalism, and like Ultimate Rugby, if you like your stats, it’s a good place to go. We also appreciate that it’s a great place for news on the Women’s side of the game, which sadly gets neglected by a lot of other rugby media. It’s free for the most part, but for a $10 CDN annual fee you get additional access to some 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’ve felt they’ve been going down the path of quantity rather than 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 have 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 as the games progress on your computer or smartphone. 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, it’s easy to 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 features highlights, interviews, and other interesting tidbits of 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 this year will not be showing the Autumn Internationals.
Sportsnet+ (No VPN required) – URC and Premiership Rugby
DAZN (No VPN required): It looks like DAZN is no longer showing 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 broadcast this year’s Super Rugby Pacific tournament. They will be showing 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 of the live games finishing for free. It requires no fee, subscription or VPN. The feed quality is globally good, 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+ as well as 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 having superior on-demand coverage to 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 (as well as free on BBC and ITV with a VPN). FLO Rugby also has it, but games are only available on demand a week after they have been played, so not really 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, which is a free service.
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 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 criteria for your Rugby viewing enjoyment 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/
service. It has much of the same content except the Six Nations, Autumn Internationals and Premiership, as Premier Sports Asia but is a wee bit more expensive at almost $50 CDN monthly but quite reasonable at $200 CDN a year, however 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, but like Premier its on demand service is generally very good and also their feed quality is slightly higher at times than Premier’s. Also, you can 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 either your phone, even with a VPN, it will require you to download the app on your phone, which, even with a VPN, will not work, 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. They cover Super Rugby Pacific and the Six Nations, and when they resume the Summer and Fall Tours, as well as obviously 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 have to 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 make it work through the website on a computer, 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 only costs $8 a month and gives you full live and on-demand access, useful if you forget to set that PVR. Also, their on-demand coverage can sometimes 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 watch on your TV if you want to cast. Our biggest issue with TSN is that they often leave us in suspense about what they’ll be showing until literally hours before kickoff, or, as happened last weekend, completely miss a round of competition. In short, they are not a very reliable rugby broadcaster, and their content is limited. They are also showing the WXV Top Tier, which is 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 games in July 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 Rugby Network based out of the US. 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 a lot of 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.
Talking of free, as mentioned above, rugby24.net shows pretty much every competition, Club and international, on demand several hours after the games have finished for free and with no need for a VPN. However, it appears to be a Russian or Eastern European site, and your antivirus may get excited about it; we’ve heard rumours of viruses and Trojan horses associated with it, and we’ve had malware pop-ups on our antivirus systems when using it. In short, use it with extreme caution, but it is free and pretty extensive in its coverage; bear in mind there is no live coverage, and there’s a wait after a game finishes. It can take anywhere from 5 to 24 hours to be available on this site, and for some of us that’s too long to avoid spoiler alerts from friends or other media sources. Like we say, use at your own risk!
Also, for the lower-level tiers of the WXV, you can catch that on Rugby Pass TV, which is also free and has some 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 trying to get a regular blog out, which seems to get far more attention from people, 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 of you not familiar, it’s a fun predictor game; there is no betting or financial transactions involved, and it’s a free service. All you have to do is set up a profile, join in the fun and see how your rugby knowledge matches up to predicting accurate results. If you watch Two Cents Rugby, you’ll know he’s a big fan of the service and pretty good at it from what we can gather.
The Lineout 