The Scarlets’ home fixture against London Irish will be live on free-to-air TV as part of a deal reached by S4C to show live coverage of the Welsh regions’ matches in the European Rugby Challenge Cup this season.
With three of the regions in this season’s competition, supporters will be able to watch one live match per round during the group stages, after an agreement was made with rights-holders BT Sport and European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR).
The first two fixtures have been confirmed. Round one will see the Scarlets’ home match against Pool Two opponents London Irish being broadcast live on S4C, on Saturday 16 November. The second match to be televised will be the Pool Five clash between Cardiff Blues and Leicester Tigers on Saturday 23 November.
Four further group stages matches will be shown, with two in December and two in January 2020. English language commentary will be available on some of the matches.
BT Sport will continue as the home of Challenge Cup matches across the UK including coverage of the Welsh sides. It will air four live Challenge Cup matches across the opening rounds of the competition, including Leicester Tigers v Cardiff Blues on Sunday, 12 January.
Sue Butler, S4C Sports Commissioner, said: “After the World Cup, regional and club rugby is back in focus and S4C is delighted to be once again showing European matches.
“With three Welsh regions in the EPCR Challenge Cup, we’ve a live game in each of the first six rounds and we are looking forward to starting at Parc y Scarlets for the game against London Irish.”
About S4C
S4C is a Welsh language public service broadcaster which is available to watch across the United Kingdom. The channel is the leading broadcaster of rugby in Wales, showing international men’s, women’s and age-grade rugby (2019 Rugby World Cup, 2020 Six Nations – Men, Women and Under 20, Autumn internationals), regional rugby (Guinness PRO14 and European Rugby Challenge Cup) and domestic rugby (Indigo Group Premiership, Welsh Colleges and Schools League, Regional age-grade, Varsity).
Live European Rugby Challenge Cup fixtures on S4C:
Saturday 16 November – Scarlets v London Irish – 7.45pm
Saturday 23 November – Cardiff Blues v Leicester Tigers – 8pm
