The best PREM, PWR, URC and Top 14 action to see you through Christmas into the new year
The festive season always boasts a packed rugby programme, and this year is no exception. The Gallagher PREM, United Rugby Championship, Professional Women’s Rugby and Top 14 all have packed schedules over Christmas, with many of them available to watch at home on TV.
Below we’ve picked out five highlights of the festive fixture lists, ready for you to pencil into your Christmas viewing schedules. There are big derbies, clashes of titans and Harlequins’ return to Twickenham for their latest Big Game. We reckon they could rank among the best gifts you receive this year. Merry Christmas!
5 matches to watch on TV this festive season
Glasgow Warriors v Edinburgh Rugby
(Craig Williamson/SNS Group via Getty Images)
- Date: Saturday 20 December
- Time: 3.00pm GMT
- Where to watch in the UK/Ireland: Premier Sports
It’s a weekend of derbies in the URC, with Cardiff v Scarlets, Leinster v Ulster, Stormers v Lions, Sharks v Bulls and Benetton v Zebre Parma all on the fixture list. The all-Scottish clash between Glasgow Warriors at Hampden Park (more traditionally used for football) may be the pick of the bunch, however.
2024 champions Glasgow Warriors are on course for a memorable season. Sitting in fifth place in the championship table, they’re very much part of the leading pack. Their only two league defeats have come against Benetton and Scarlets, two teams who’ve struggled this season, while their European Champions Cup campaign has got off to a spectacular start – recovering from 21-0 down at half-time to beat the mighty Toulouse was one of the all-time great comebacks.
Edinburgh are currently 10th in the URC, but that doesn’t tell the full story of their season so far. Aside from their 43-0 blowout against Benetton, all of their league games have been settled by three points or fewer. They also have a game in hand over most of their rivals, and will be well aware that the return fixture at Murrayfield is just a week away.
Do the double over the team from the other end of M8 and their campaign could start to look very different indeed…
Harlequins v Bristol Bears
(Bob Bradford – CameraSport via Getty Images)
- Date: Saturday 20 December
- Time: 3.05pm GMT (women’s), 6.00pm GMT (men’s)
- Where to watch in the UK/Ireland: TNT Sports
Harlequins make their annual trip across the road to the Allianz Stadium for Big Game 17. Bristol Bears are the guests in Twickenham for a festive double bill including both the women’s PWR fixture and the men’s PREM clash.
Harlequins Women couldn’t be more midtable, but in points terms are much nearer the top than the bottom. They’ll fancy their chances of building on a two-game winning streak against a team on a run of five defeats, and besides, any side with the prolific Ellie Kildunne in their back line is going to be a threat.
Harlequins Men come into the match on the back of a comprehensive victory over Bayonne in the Champions Cup, but their domestic form has given them much less to shout about. Their only PREM wins this season have come against local rivals Saracens and struggling Newcastle Red Bulls, and they’re already a long way off the pace in the battle for a play-off spot.
Bears, meanwhile, are snapping at the top four’s heels, and secured a comprehensive win over Northampton Saints in their previous PREM outing. With both teams geared for exciting, attacking rugby, this should be the ideal pre-Christmas treat.
Bath Rugby v Northampton Saints
(David Rogers/Getty Images)
- Date: Saturday 27 December
- Time: 5.30pm GMT
- Where to watch in the UK/Ireland: TNT Sports
The two most recent winners of the Gallagher PREM come face to face at the Rec, knowing that any hint of a post-Christmas hangover will be punished. Both sides have lost just a single match this season, and – with apologies to second-placed Exeter Chiefs – are looking like the teams to beat this season. A victory here could lay down a marker in their bids to lift the trophy in June.
Bath have picked up where they left off last season, taking full advantage of the strongest squad in the league. Even their sole league defeat – against Leicester Tigers – went down to the final kick of the match. They’ll be particularly keen to maintain control in the PREM following their Champions Cup loss in Toulon.
Saints have no such worries in Europe, having secured wins in their first two games of the competition. And with the likes of England stars George Furbank, Fraser Dingwall, Fin Smith and Alex Mitchell running around behind the scrum – not to mention the exciting Henry Pollock in the back row – they won’t be overawed by a festive outing in the South West.
Munster v Leinster
(Brendan Moran/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
- Date: Saturday 27 December
- Time: 7.45pm GMT
- Where to watch in the UK/Ireland: Premier Sports
Even if Santa doesn’t bring you the presents you wanted, you’ll still have something massive to look forward to while you’re tucking into those Christmas leftovers. The United Rugby Championship has saved one of its biggest fixtures for Twixtmas, as the Irish giants clash at Thomond Park.
Leinster have had the upper hand in recent years, regularly topping the URC table and becoming a fixture in the latter stages of the Champions Cup. They’re also the reigning URC champions, and supplied a sizeable proportion of the British & Irish Lions squad that toured Australia this summer.
But are we starting to see a shift in the balance of power? Munster have been one of the standout teams in this year’s competition, sitting in third place a mere three points behind the frontrunning Stormers. Memories of a stunning 31-14 victory over Leinster at Croke Park back in October will also be fresh in their minds.
In other words, domestic rugby doesn’t get much bigger than this, especially as there’ll be national team rivalries all over the park – not least at fly-half, where Jack Crowley and Sam Prendergast will continue their battle for that coveted green number 10 shirt.
Toulouse v La Rochelle
(XAVIER LEOTY/AFP via Getty Images)
- Date: Sunday 28 December
- Time: 8.05pm (GMT)
- Where to watch in the UK/Ireland: Premier Sports
These two sides have won four of the last five Champions Cups between them, and boast numerous players from the current golden generation of French international talent. There’s also an intriguing clash of styles, as La Rochelle’s power game meets an electrifying Toulouse back line, bolstered by the return of talismanic scrum-half Antoine Dupont after a long injury lay-off.
Reigning champions Toulouse go into the game as favourites, occupying a familiar spot at the summit of the Top 14 table (albeit tied on points with this season’s surprise package, Pau). They are beatable, however, as Glasgow Warriors proved with their stirring Champions Cup comeback.
La Rochelle, meanwhile, find themselves languishing in 10th place and on a run of three straight defeats. But with the highly respected Ronan O’Gara calling the shots, and a gifted group of players, there’s every chance of an upset in the south of France.
Stream festive rugby fixtures from anywhere
Going to be away from home over Christmas? That doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the best rugby action this festive season. Fans who are travelling overseas can watch their usual TV services with the help of a VPN.
A VPN (or Virtual Private Network) is a clever piece of software that allows you to change the IP address of your smartphone, tablet or laptop. This means your device can appear to be back home, allowing you to watch your usual live or on-demand content as if you were back on your sofa – assuming it complies with the broadcaster’s T&Cs, of course.
Right now, the tech experts at TechRadar and Tom’s Guide reckon NordVPN is top of the league, with Tom’s Guide saying it delivers “the best balance of privacy, usability, extra features, and value for money.”
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: rugbyworld.com
