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In more good news for rugby fans, free-to-air provider SBS has reportedly secured the rights to two of the Wallabies’ upcoming Spring Tour Tests.
While this weekend’s match against Scotland will remain solely in the domain of pay TV, the following weekend’s match against France, as well as the marquee fixture at the end of the tour against England, will both be shown on SBS.
The match in between the two against Ireland, fresh off their incredible upset win over the All Blacks in Chicago, has not been picked up by SBS.
Both matches will be shown live and in high definition on SBS and will also be streamed online for free via SBS On Demand.
The game against France takes place on Sunday, November 20, with the broadcast starting at 6:50am (AEDT), while coverage of the England Test is slated to start at 1:25am (AEDT) on Sunday, December 4.
ARU CEO Bill Pulver was evidently pleased with the announcement, although was disappointed more of the tour isn’t available on free-to-air TV.
“Although the whole tour won’t be broadcast on free-to-air television, this gives all fans in Australia the opportunity to watch the Tests against France and England, both of which promise to be great games.
“Unfortunately when it comes to Wallabies matches on the Spring Tour, the ARU play no role in the broadcast negotiations as they are negotiated between the home union for each Test and Australian broadcasters.
“It is a disappointing outcome that not all of the Wallabies Spring Tour matches are available on free-to-air television but with all Tests being screened by beIN Sports and the addition of the England and France matches on SBS, there are options available for fans to watch each Test.”
SBS’s director of sport, Ken Shipp, lauded the announcement.
“SBS is pleased it can bring the very best of world rugby to Australians free-to-air,” he said. “Globally, sport is recognised as a way to bring people and communities together – not to mention it is also very much a part of Australia’s DNA.”
The lack of broadcasting options of the Spring Tour had come under fire from fans prior to Australia’s first game against Wales, with it emerging that both the France and England games would not be shown on either free-to-air or pay TV.
However, after the backlash from Wallabies fans, BeIN Sport announced they would be showing all of the spring Tests on their dedicated channel on Fox Sports.
That announcement still, however, left rugby fans unable to dish out the $50 required for a Foxtel subscription in the dark.
While Channel Ten hold the rights for all of the Wallabies’ domestic, Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup Tests under the ARU’s new broadcast deal, they do not have the rights to show the Spring Tour games, as the rights for those games are negotiated between broadcasters and the respective home unions.
The latest news will now see SBS fill a large portion of that free-to-air void.
SBS Wallabies’ Spring Tour broadcast schedule
Sunday, 20 November at 6.50am AEDT: France vs Australia Live from Stade de France, Paris
Sunday, 4 December at 1.25am AEDT: England vs Australia Live from Twickenham Stadium, London
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.