With fans still not allowed back in stadia, thank goodness there is going to be a lot of Scottish rugby on the telly over the coming months. Between the pro teams and international sides there will be at least 43 matches to watch at home over the next 21 weeks. Here’s On Top Of The Moon’s guide to when and where to see those games.
As things stand these are the matches confirmed so far (games where the exact date has yet to be finalised are highlighted in yellow):
NB Kick-off for Scotland Men’s match against Georgia on Friday 24th October has been confirmed as 7:30.
Only 2 of the confirmed fixtures clash or overlap so there’s no lack of Scottish rugby to watch over the next 5 months!
15 matches will be available on free to air television. Here are some of the cheapest ways to pick up the 28 games that are going to be on subscription TV.
Premier Sports
What else is included?
In terms of rugby – every PRO14 fixture. Up to Round 11 is already confirmed. Expect circa 9 more rounds plus playoffs to complete the season. They also cover La Liga, Serie A and some Scottish football.
What platforms is it available on?
Virgin Media:
- Premier Sports 1 – ch551; Premier Sports 2 – ch552; FreeSports – ch553
- Costs £9.99 per month to subscribe so £90 if you want to watch right through from the opening game to the Grand Final on 19th June.
Sky customers:
- Premier Sports 1 – ch412; Premier Sports 2 – ch435; FreeSports – ch422
- The monthly cost is £11.99 per month so £108 from Round 1 to the Grand Final.
- There’s an annual option – 12 months for £99 (equivalent to £8.25 per month) – as well as a 6-monthly option for £9.99 per month.
- Those who subscribe through Sky also get access to the Premier Player (more below) to watch matches online.
- The cheapest route should be by subscribing monthly, cancelling after the weekend of 10th January; renewing towards the end of February; then cancelling again after the Grand Final. That will only save £3 on the annual payment though so possibly not worth the aggravation!
- For anyone who hasn’t already subscribed there was a voucher code floating around a few weeks back to get 12 months for £69 (code – SERIEA69) but OTOTM has been unable to confirm if this is still working…
Premier Player:
- For those without cable or satellite there’s the Premier Player – an internet / app-based viewing solution that can be played through a phone, tablet or laptop.
- Chromecasts are officially supported so the Premier Player can be cast to a TV. Other devices (eg Amazon Fire) and smart TVs may work as well but Premier Sports don’t make any promises on these…
- You can only watch on one device at a time.
- The cost for new subscribers is £11.99 per month with 7 days on-demand catch-up. If you pay £12.99 per month you can watch back any coverage from the ‘current season’. So that’s either £108 or £117 from the beginning until the end of the campaign.
- As with Sky there’s an annual option – 12 months for £99 (equivalent to £8.25 per month) – as well as a 6-monthly option for £9.99 per month.
BT Sport
What else is included?
As has been the case for the last few seasons the Champions Cup will be almost entirely on BT Sport. One match per round (including one quarter-final, one semi-final and the final) will be shown free-to-air on Channel 4. BT Sport also have the rights to the Gallagher Premiership.
What platforms is it available on?
There are an awful lot of different ways to get BT Sport. The most straightforward method that is available to anyone is a monthly pass for £25. This will get you two weekends of European pool stage action, so 4 fixtures involving Glasgow and Edinburgh and another 20 Champions Cup games, plus a month of Gallagher Premiership matches. You’ll need two monthly passes to watch all games in the pools.
For a good guide to the cheapest route to BT Sport if you are a BT, Sky, EE, Plusnet or TalkTalk customer try this article.
Amazon Prime Video
What else is included?
The new player on the block this season is Amazon. They are showing the majority of the Autumn Nations Cup fixtures (14 out of 16 games – including all of Scotland’s fixtures) in a deal that will hopefully make a bit of a dent in the revenue lost from the lack of crowds in November. They don’t have any other rugby – yet…Prime chucks an awful lot of other stuff in though – inclusive music, movies, TV and books as well as free delivery – to get you to join the Amazon congregation.
What platforms is it available on?
Pretty much anywhere you can think of – smart TVs, game consoles, mobile phones, selected tablets, laptops and other compatible streaming devices. There are a few options for subscribing but the first draw for rugby fans should be the 30-day free trial for new customers. If you start your subscription just before the opening weekend of cup action and decide Prime is not for you and cancel before the first monthly payment comes off it won’t cost you anything to watch the 14 games on Amazon.
- £5.99 per month for Amazon Prime Video only (no free trial).
- £7.99 per month for Amazon Prime – includes Prime Video and all other Prime benefits.
- £79 for 12 months of Amazon Prime (equivalent to £6.58 per month).
On Top Of The Moon 