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UPDATE: beIN will now televise the entire Spring Tour. Read about the details here.
In what is a major stumbling block ahead of the Wallabies’ Spring Tour, it has been revealed that TV coverage for some of the games is yet to be locked in, with negotiations still ongoing.
The Spring Tour will see the Wallabies play five Tests, yet just a handful of days out from the start of the Tour, only three are guaranteed to be broadcast, and even then fans will need a Foxtel subscription to view them.
While Network Ten has broadcast the Wallabies’ home games this year, as well as Spring Tour games in the past, they have not secured the rights to the 2016 northern hemisphere fixtures, leaving them in the dark on free-to-air TV.
Under the new Australian rugby broadcast deal, Ten remained as the free-to-air provider for all Wallabies home matches, as well as all of the side’s Bledisloe Cup and Rugby Championship away games.
However, there was no mention of the spring Tests under the agreement, and the fixtures do not appear on Ten’s list of Wallabies games they are broadcasting in 2016.
Fox Sports is believed to have placed a bid to broadcast a number of the matches, but for the games to be played against Wales, which kicks off the tour this Sunday, November 6 (AEDT), Scotland on November 13 and Ireland on November 27, BeIN Sports will be the exclusive Australian broadcaster.
While that makes sense given BeIN are a European broadcaster, what doesn’t make sense for Australian rugby fans is the matches on November 20 against France and December 4 against England – the latter of which is the arguably the biggest of the entire tour – are yet to be snapped up by a TV network.
Negotiations for those two matches are believed to be ongoing, but it’s worrying for rugby fans, to say the least, that there may be no way to watch these matches live, with less than three weeks left until the first of them kicks off.
The Wallabies will also play an extra tour match against the French Barbarians on November 17. However, that fixture has rated no mention thus far in negotiations and is not likely to be televised.
Wallabies Spring Tour schedule (times AEDT)
November 6, 1:30am – Wales vs Australia at Principality Stadium, Cardiff (BeIN Sports)
November 13, 1:30am – Scotland vs Australia at Murrayfield, Edinburgh (BeIN Sports)
November 20, 7am – France vs Australia at Stade de France, Paris (TV Coverage TBC)
November 27, 4:30am – Ireland vs Australia at Aviva Stadium, Dublin (BeIN Sports)
December 4, 1:30am – England vs Australia at Twickenham, London (TV Coverage TBC)
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.