How to watch the best club sides in Europe and now South Africa battle it out wherever you are in the world
European rugby coverage: How to watch Champions Cup from anywhere
European rugby is back with a bumper line-up as Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle begin the defence of their Champions Cup title.
They are joined in the premier competition by last season’s Challenge Cup victors and fellow Top 14 side Lyon and with the addition of the three South African sides for the 2022/23 competition, there are 24 teams in total who will battle it out for the right to call themselves champions.
Related: European Champions Cup fixtures
Round one begins on 9 December with Round two taking place the following week before Rounds three and four follow back-to-back from 13 January. The Round of 16 and quarter-finals take place in the first two weeks of April before the semi-finals get underway on the weekend starting 28 April with the final on 20 May.
If you are in the UK, BT Sport are providing comprehensive coverage of the Champions Cup while Viaplay will broadcast the Challenge Cup.
Matches will also be broadcast around the world and here’s your guide for how to watch the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup wherever you are…
How to watch Champions Cup from outside your country
If you’re abroad, but still want to watch your local rugby coverage, you can do so by using a VPN – Virtual Private Network.
Our friends at TechRadar have tested hundreds of VPNs and recommend ExpressVPN, which is easy to use, has strong security features and allows you to watch on several devices at once, including smart TVs and phones, iPads, tablets, PCs and Macs.
Plus, ExpressVPN comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. You can try it out for a month for free or sign up for an annual plan and get three months free.
Champions Cup and Challenge Cup coverage: How to watch from the UK & Ireland
BT Sport are the main rights holders for the Champions Cup in the UK & Ireland with every game available live. If you are a BT Sport subscriber then all the games are free to watch.
If you are not, then you can subscribe to BT Sport from as little as £17 a month here.
There are other free-to-air options in the UK as ITV will show a select game along with RTE in Ireland and S4C in Wales.
For fans in the UK wanting to watch the Challenge Cup, Viaplay is the place to go for every game after they signed a two-year deal to broadcast the competition.
Champions Cup and Challenge Cup coverage: How to watch from France
In France, beIN Sports will show every Champions Cup game and a select number of Challenge Cup fixtures.
There is free-to-air coverage from France TV while France 3 provides additional coverage of the Challenge Cup.
Champions Cup and Challenge Cup coverage: How to watch from Italy
Sky Sport Italia will show five games every week with three from the Champions Cup and two from the Challenge Cup.
Champions Cup and Challenge Cup coverage: How to watch from elsewhere in Europe
If you are in Spain or Andorra, then Telefonica have the rights to show European rugby while Sport TV and Go are the relevant places for those watching in Portugal and Malta respectively.
Champions Cup and Challenge Cup coverage: How to watch from South Africa
South African fans following the progress of the Stormers, the Bulls and the Sharks in the Champions Cup as well as the Lions and the Cheetahs in the Challenge Cup can tune into SuperSport, who will cover all matches involving South African clubs in each of the pool stage and knockout stage rounds, including both finals.
Various DStv packages give access to SuperSport (with all action on their Grandstand channel). If you can’t watch on your TV, you can also use the network’s streaming service for PC and Mac, as well as via SuperSport’s dedicated app.
Champions Cup and Challenge Cup coverage: How to watch from USA and Canada
Rugby fans in North America can stream every single Champions Cup and Challenge Cup game on FloRugby. You can stream matches via FloSports or watch via the app.
A FloRugby monthly subscription costs $29.99 and the annual subscription is $150, with both packages also giving you access to the entire FloSports network, which includes coverage of cycling, motorsport and wrestling.
Champions Cup and Challenge Cup coverage: How to watch from New Zealand
Sky New Zealand has the rights to show the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup in the Land of the Long White Cloud.
Sky will broadcast 63 live Champions Cup matches each season, with a ‘match of the week’ to air on Saturday morning in New Zealand. Sky will also show one quarter-final, one semi-final and the final of the Challenge Cup.
Champions Cup and Challenge Cup coverage: How to watch from Australia
Fans braving the time difference down under can watch every game of the Champions Cup with beIN Sports on Foxtel. Supporters can also stream it on the go on their devices using Foxtel GO.
Champions Cup and Challenge Cup coverage: How to watch from South-East Asia
Premier Sports Asia will show every Champions Cup match live along with selected Challenge Cup matches in over 20 countries across the region.
A monthly subscription costs $25.99 (USD) while an annual deal comes in at £169 for supporters.
Champions Cup and Challenge Cup coverage: How to watch from elsewhere
EPCR have an OTT service, epcrugby.tv, so you can stream live European matches outside of its core broadcast territories.
We recommend VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:
- Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service)
- Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad
We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
Download the digital edition of Rugby World straight to your tablet or subscribe to the print edition to get the magazine delivered to your door.
Follow Rugby World on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.