All the information you need to watch the action from the 16-team tournament
United Rugby Championship live stream: How to watch matches online
The 2021-22 United Rugby Championship campaign runs from September to mid-June.
As well as a new name (it replaces the Pro14), the tournament has expanded to 16 teams, with South African franchises Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers joining.
Related: United Rugby Championship fixtures
Teams will play in regional pools, but there will be one table, with the top eight qualifying for the quarter-finals. The pools are as follows:
- Irish: Connacht, Leinster, Munster, Ulster
- South African: Bulls, Lions, Sharks, Stormers
- Welsh: Cardiff Rugby, Dragons, Ospreys, Scarlets
- Italian & Scottish: Benetton, Edinburgh, Glasgow Warriors, Zebre
It should all make for an exciting season – and below we explain how to find a reliable United Rugby Championship live stream so you can watch all the action.
United Rugby Championship live stream: How to watch from the UK & Ireland
Premier Sports is the only place you can watch all of this season’s 151 United Rugby Championship matches live in the UK and Ireland (this is the first time Premier Sports have had live coverage in the Republic of Ireland).
If you have a Sky Sports or Virgin Media contract, you can add Premier Sports to your package from £12.99 a month. Or subscribe to Premier Player so you can stream matches online from £12.99 a month.
Each round, there will also be matches available on free-to-air TV. In Wales, BBC Wales and S4C will show 75% of matches involving the Welsh regions while BBC Northern Ireland will also air certain Ulster matches.
In the Republic of Ireland, RTÉ and TG4 will both have live coverage of 26 matches featuring the Irish provinces while TG4 will show an additional 16 non-Irish fixtures live.
Fans in Ireland will also be able to watch matches via URC TV – find out more below.
If you’re from the UK or Ireland but are overseas when there’s a particular match you want to watch, you can get your normal live stream but you’ll need a VPN – Virtual Private Network. Check out Express VPN.
United Rugby Championship live stream: How to watch from Italy
Free-to-air broadcaster Mediaset will screen all games involving Benetton and Zebre live in Italy.
Selected matches will also be available on URC TV – find out more below.
United Rugby Championship live stream: How to watch from South Africa
SuperSport will show all of this season’s URC matches live. There are various DStv packages available that give access to SuperSport, ranging from Access, which has the Blitz and Variety 4 channels, to Premium, which includes all 18 sports channels.
United Rugby Championship live stream: How to watch from New Zealand
If you want to tune in to the URC from the Land of the Long White Cloud, Spark Sport is the place to go. A monthly subscription is $24.99 – and you can also sign up for a free seven-day trial.
Selected matches will also be available on URC TV – find out more below.
United Rugby Championship live stream: How to watch from anywhere else in the world
Outside of the key broadcast territories listed above, this season fans around the world can watch all 151 matches on URC TV.
The streaming service, launched by RTÉ and URC, allows supporters to watch every match live or on-demand. There are a range of packages, including a Season Pass and Weekend Pass as well as individual match passes.
Fans in Ireland, Italy and New Zealand will also be able to watch matches via URC TV, although there may be restrictions.
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