{"id":356109,"date":"2025-12-18T13:20:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T13:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/356109\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T13:20:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T13:20:12","slug":"the-best-rugby-games-on-television-this-festive-period-and-how-to-watch-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/356109\/","title":{"rendered":"The best rugby games on television this festive period and how to watch them!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The best PREM, PWR, URC and Top 14 action to see you through Christmas into the new year<\/p>\n

The festive season always boasts a packed rugby programme, and this year is no exception. The Gallagher PREM<\/a>, United Rugby Championship, Professional Women\u2019s Rugby and Top 14 all have packed schedules over Christmas, with many of them available to watch at home on TV.<\/p>\n

Below we\u2019ve 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\u2019 return to Twickenham for their latest Big Game. We reckon they could rank among the best gifts you receive this year. Merry Christmas!<\/p>\n

5 matches to watch on TV this festive season
\nGlasgow Warriors v Edinburgh Rugby
\n\"Edinburgh's<\/p>\n

(Craig Williamson\/SNS Group via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Date: Saturday 20 December
\nTime: 3.00pm GMT
\nWhere to watch in the UK\/Ireland: Premier Sports<\/p>\n

It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

2024 champions Glasgow Warriors are on course for a memorable season. Sitting in fifth place in the championship table, they\u2019re very much part of the leading pack. Their only two league defeats have come against Benetton and Scarlets, two teams who\u2019ve struggled this season, while their European Champions Cup campaign has got off to a spectacular start \u2013 recovering from 21-0 down at half-time to beat the mighty Toulouse was one of the all-time great comebacks.<\/p>\n

Edinburgh are currently 10th in the URC, but that doesn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

Do the double over the team from the other end of M8 and their campaign could start to look very different indeed\u2026<\/p>\n

Harlequins v Bristol Bears
\n\"Harlequins'<\/p>\n

(Bob Bradford \u2013 CameraSport via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Date: Saturday 20 December
\nTime: 3.05pm GMT (women\u2019s), 6.00pm GMT (men\u2019s)
\nWhere to watch in the UK\/Ireland: TNT Sports<\/p>\n

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\u2019s PWR fixture and the men\u2019s PREM clash.<\/p>\n

Harlequins Women couldn\u2019t be more midtable, but in points terms are much nearer the top than the bottom. They\u2019ll 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019re already a long way off the pace in the battle for a play-off spot.<\/p>\n

Bears, meanwhile, are snapping at the top four\u2019s heels, and secured a comprehensive win over Northampton Saints in their previous PREM outing. \u00a0With both teams geared for exciting, attacking rugby, this should be the ideal pre-Christmas treat.<\/p>\n

Bath Rugby v Northampton Saints
\n\"Miles<\/p>\n

(David Rogers\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Date: Saturday 27 December
\nTime: 5.30pm GMT
\nWhere to watch in the UK\/Ireland: TNT Sports<\/p>\n

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 \u2013 with apologies to second-placed Exeter Chiefs \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

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 \u2013 against Leicester Tigers \u2013 went down to the final kick of the match. They\u2019ll be particularly keen to maintain control in the PREM following their Champions Cup loss in Toulon.<\/p>\n

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 \u2013 not to mention the exciting Henry Pollock in the back row \u2013 they won\u2019t be overawed by a festive outing in the South West.<\/p>\n

Munster v Leinster
\n\"Jordan<\/p>\n

(Brendan Moran\/Sportsfile via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Date: Saturday 27 December
\nTime: 7.45pm GMT
\nWhere to watch in the UK\/Ireland: Premier Sports<\/p>\n

Even if Santa doesn\u2019t bring you the presents you wanted, you\u2019ll still have something massive to look forward to while you\u2019re 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019re also the reigning URC champions, and supplied a sizeable proportion of the British & Irish Lions<\/a> squad that toured Australia this summer.<\/p>\n

But are we starting to see a shift in the balance of power? Munster have been one of the standout teams in this year\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

In other words, domestic rugby doesn\u2019t get much bigger than this, especially as there\u2019ll be national team rivalries all over the park \u2013 not least at fly-half, where Jack Crowley and Sam Prendergast will continue their battle for that coveted green number 10 shirt.<\/p>\n

Toulouse v La Rochelle
\n\"La<\/p>\n

(XAVIER LEOTY\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Date: Sunday 28 December
\nTime: 8.05pm (GMT)
\nWhere to watch in the UK\/Ireland: Premier Sports<\/p>\n

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\u2019s also an intriguing clash of styles, as La Rochelle\u2019s power game meets an electrifying Toulouse back line, bolstered by the return of talismanic scrum-half Antoine Dupont after a long injury lay-off.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s surprise package, Pau). They are beatable, however, as Glasgow Warriors proved with their stirring Champions Cup comeback.<\/p>\n

La Rochelle, meanwhile, find themselves languishing in 10th place and on a run of three straight defeats. But with the highly respected Ronan O\u2019Gara calling the shots, and a gifted group of players, there\u2019s every chance of an upset in the south of France.<\/p>\n

Stream festive rugby fixtures from anywhere<\/p>\n

Going to be away from home over Christmas? That doesn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

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 \u2013 assuming it complies with the broadcaster\u2019s T&Cs, of course.<\/p>\n

Right now, the tech experts at TechRadar<\/a> and Tom\u2019s Guide<\/a> reckon NordVPN is top of the league, with Tom\u2019s Guide saying it delivers \u201cthe best balance of privacy, usability, extra features, and value for money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Download the digital edition<\/a>\u00a0of Rugby World straight to your tablet or\u00a0subscribe to the print edition<\/a>\u00a0to get\u00a0the magazine delivered to your door.<\/p>\n

Follow Rugby World on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Twitter\/X<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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