The inaugural European Rugby Champions Cup is set to explode into action in mid-October with two compelling weekends of heavyweight clashes between European club rugby’s professional elite, all live on BT Sport and Sky Sports.
A brand new chapter in the story of European club rugby union will begin on October 16-19 as the successor to the Heineken Cup kicks off a bumper season of tries, tackles and breathtaking action, with both BT Sport and Sky Sports sharing live coverage of both competitions from October to May, in the first of a ground-breaking four-year TV deal with the newly formed European Rugby Cup.
All 20 games in Rounds 1 and 2 of this season’s pool stages will be broadcast live on either BT Sport or Sky Sports, with BT kicking off their European coverage with the Pool 2 game between Harlequins and Castres Olympique at the Twickenham Stoop on Friday, October 17.
Sky Sports’ coverage will begin a day earlier when Gloucester take on Brive in the opening round of the European Rugby Challenge Cup, European rugby’s second tier competition, at Kingsholm Stadium on Thursday, October 16.
Following months of divisive talks and negotiations between clubs, unions and broadcasters, the new European cup rugby competitions were given the go-ahead back in April after Sky and BT finally reached an agreement to split the rights to the newly formed competition.
In the European Rugby Champions Cup, a total of 70 matches will be broadcast live with BT and Sky screening 35 matches each.
Live coverage of the pool stage matches will be shared equally, with BT Sport screening the first pick of games involving clubs from the English Premiership and Sky having the first choice of games with Pro12, French and Italian sides.
A total of 10 live games will be shown during each round of the pool stage, five each by BT and Sky.
In the knockout stages, both will show two quarter finals each, plus one semi-final exclusively live, with both broadcasters screening live coverage of the final to be held this season at Twickenham, the home of English rugby.
For the second tier European Rugby Challenge Cup, BT Sport and Sky Sports will broadcast at least one match from the competition between them per round, with Sky having the first pick of games involving English Premiership clubs while BT Sport has the first choice of games with Pro12, French and Italian sides.
As with the Champions Cup, live coverage from the knockout stages would be shared evenly, with two quarter-finals and one semi-final each, plus the final, which this year will be held at Twickenham Stoop, live on both channels.
Further information regarding dates, venues and kick-off times for Rounds 3 and 4 in both the European Champions and Challenge Cup tournaments will be announced in due course, with further details of the Rounds 5 and 6 fixtures confirmed in December after the completion of Round 4.
Full details of the opening two rounds of live European rugby action can be found below, as well as details of how BT Sport and Sky Sports will be covering this season’s competition, as both broadcaster’s go directly head-to-head on the rugby field for the first time.
Visit the official European Rugby Cup website for more information about both competitions.
.
After a successful debut campaign covering the Aviva Premiership last year, BT Sport will cover live European rugby for the first time this season.
In the European Rugby Champions Cup, BT Sport will show at least five matches exclusively live from each of the opening rounds of the tournament, plus two quarter-finals and a semi-final, plus the final, which will shared with Sky Sports.
BT has first picks and additional matches involving clubs from the Aviva Premiership in the Champions Cup and it is using those picks to show Saracens, Leicester, Wasps, Harlequins and Bath in the opening weekend.
It will launch its coverage with a high quality Round 1 line-up, which spans October 16-19, featuring a replay of last year’s memorable semi-final between Saracens and Clermont Auvergne, which the London club won 46-6.
Other exclusively live matches from the opening weekend include Leicester taking on Ulster at Welford Road, a match in which the home side will hope to gain revenge, after the Irish club ended their 25 match unbeaten home run in the Heineken Cup last January.
There will be another Anglo-Irish match on BT Sport when Wasps return to the top tier of European rugby with a visit to Leinster.
BT Sport’s most recent addition, former Ireland and Leinster centre Brian O’Driscoll, who will be working as a pundit for the TV channel’s coverage all season, will line-up alongside fellow pundit and former England and Wasps forward, Lawrence Dallaglio to present the match, while BT will also show Bath’s visit to Glasgow Warriors, as well as a fifth match between Harlequins vs Castres.
The second round of the tournament, which spans October 23 to 26, will see BT Sport show another five matches exclusively live.
These include the London derby, Wasps against Harlequins, as well as a difficult away trip for Saracens to Munster. Leicester will also feature when they visit the Scarlets whilst Bath will be at home to Toulouse, while Treviso against Racing Metro 92 will be the fifth live match shown on BT Sport that weekend.
In the Challenge Cup, BT Sport 2 will broadcast London Welsh v Bordeaux in Round Two, which kicks off at 7.45pm on Thursday October 23.
Grant Best, senior executive channel producer, BT Sport, said: “As well as being the home of the world leading Aviva Premiership, we’re delighted to be adding coverage of Europe’s premier rugby competition to our line-up.
“We are passionate about rugby at BT Sport and look forward to growing the profile of European rugby. Last season, in our inaugural season of Aviva Premiership Rugby, TV audiences rose by 40 per cent.”
BT Sport’s European rugby match coverage will be anchored live from the grounds around Europe for key matches, with further games broadcast live from the BT Sport studio in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London.
Coverage will be hosted by Craig Doyle, while commentary will be provided by Nick Mullins and Alastair Eykyn, who will be joined by BT Sport rugby experts, Lawrence Dallaglio, Ben Kay, Matt Dawson and Austin Healey. Reporting duties fall to Sarra Elgan and Martin Bayfield.
After a highly successful first year, BT Sport’s Rugby Tonight moves to a new slot of Monday nights for the new season and will recap on all the action in the new European tournaments.
It will continue to be hosted by Martin Bayfield, Matt Dawson, Craig Doyle plus Sarra Elgan and will offer a mixture of rugby analysis, debate and lively entertainment around the tournaments, as well as the wider world of rugby.
Alongside live high-definition TV coverage, all the action will be available to watch online and on the go via the BT Sport website and app.
For more information about BT Sport’s rugby union coverage, visit btsport.com.
.
Sky Sports will kick off its European Rugby Champions Cup coverage with the winners of last season’s Heineken Cup, Amlin Challenge Cup, Aviva Premiership, Top 14 and PRO12 all live during the first two rounds.
Subscribers can enjoy 10 live matches across the first two weekends on Sky Sports, including Toulon, the reigning European rugby champions, opening their campaign at home to Scarlets, before an away trip the following week to Ulster.
Premiership champions Northampton Saints also feature live twice on Sky Sports, a trip to Paris for an opening weekend clash with Racing Métro, before a home match against Ospreys.
Sky Sports will show 16 teams from all six countries across the first two rounds, with Sale aginst Munster opening the coverage on Saturday, October 18, while coverage of the European Rugby Challenge Cup begins with Gloucester Rugby at home to CA Brive on Thursday, October 16.
The European Rugby Champions Cup forms part of Sky Sports’ biggest ever rugby union season, offering viewers more than 360 live matches from the international, European and domestic game.
Sky Sports will show 35 live matches from the new European competition, including the final from Twickenham in May.
Gus Williamson, executive producer of Sky Sports rugby union, said: “Our European schedule offers Sky Sports viewers many of the best players and best teams over the first two rounds.
“The matches form part of our biggest ever season, which will for the first time include coverage of Top 14, Guinness PRO12 and Ireland’s Autumn Internationals.
“Add to our existing schedule of matches from here and abroad and rugby union fans with Sky Sports have never had it so good. We can’t wait.”
Sky Sports will this season show more rugby union than ever before. Coverage kicks off this weekend (October 16-17) with eight live matches from four competitions, including the opening fixtures from the Top 14 and Australia v All Blacks in the Rugby Championship.
The schedule comprises over 360 live matches from the international, European and domestic game, including England, Ireland, France and Italy home Autumn Internationals, Top 14, Guinness PRO12 plus international and domestic fixtures from the southern hemisphere. Sky’s commitment to women’s rugby includes live coverage of the IRB Women’s Rugby World Cup.
The line-up of Sky Sports commentators and analysts includes some of the biggest names in rugby union with over 550 caps between them.
Expert analysis is provided by Will Greenwood, Dewi Morris, Ieuan Evans, Scott Quinnell, Sean Fitzpatrick, Michael Lynagh, Shane Horgan and Paul Wallace.
Coverage is presented by Alex Payne and James Gemmell with commentary from Stuart Barnes, Miles Harrison, Mark Robson and Johnnie Hammond.
Additional faces will also appear in the Sky Sports rugby union studio throughout the season.
All of Sky Sports’ live matches will be available to watch in HD, on demand and on the go through Sky Go, the leading sports mobile TV service in the UK.
To support the live match experience, Sky Sports customers can also benefit from the innovative Sky Sports smartphone and iPad apps, which offer additional viewing options and analysis.
For more information about Sky Sports’ rugby union coverage, visit skysports.com.
.
.
ROUND 1
| THURSDAY 16th OCTOBER |
| Gloucester v Brive European Challenge Cup | 19:45 |
 |
| FRIDAY 17th OCTOBER |
| Harlequins v Castres European Champions Cup | 19:45 |
 |
| SATURDAY 18th OCTOBER |
| Sale Sharks v Munster European Champions Cup | 13:00 |
|
| Saracens v Clermont Auvergne European Champions Cup | 15:15 |
|
| Glasgow Warriors v Bath European Champions Cup | 15:15 |
|
| Racing Metro v Northampton Saints European Champions Cup | 17:15 |
|
| Leicester Tigers v Ulster European Champions Cup | 19:45 |
|
| SUNDAY 19th OCTOBER |
| Ospreys v Treviso European Champions Cup | 13:00 |
|
| Toulouse v Montpellier European Champions Cup | 13:00 |
|
| Toulon v Scarlets European Champions Cup | 15:15 |
|
| Leinster v London Wasps European Champions Cup | 17:15 |
|
ROUND 2
| THURSDAY 16th OCTOBER |
| London Welsh v Bordeaux European Challenge Cup | 19:45 |
|
| FRIDAY 24th OCTOBER |
| Munster v Saracens European Champions Cup | 19:45 |
|
| SATURDAY 25th OCTOBER |
| Ulster v Toulon European Champions Cup | 13:00 |
|
| Bath v Toulouse European Champions Cup | 15:15 |
|
| Northampton Saints v Ospreys European Champions Cup | 17:15 |
|
| Montpellier v Glasgow Warriors European Champions Cup | 17:15 |
|
| Scarlets v Leicester Tigers European Champions Cup | 19:45 |
|
| SUNDAY 26th OCTOBER |
| Castres v Leinster European Champions Cup | 13:00 |
|
| Clermont Auvergne v Sale Sharks European Champions Cup | 15:15 |
|
| London Wasps v Harlequins European Champions Cup | 17:15 |
|
| Treviso v Racing Metro European Champions Cup | 17:15 |
|
.
.