{"id":262876,"date":"2026-09-25T16:27:54","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T15:27:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tg4.ie\/?page_id=262876"},"modified":"2026-09-25T16:29:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T15:29:28","slug":"tg4-confirms-36-live-bkt-urc-games-and-grand-final-for-2026-27-season","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.tg4.ie\/en\/information\/press\/press-releases\/2026-2\/tg4-confirms-36-live-bkt-urc-games-and-grand-final-for-2026-27-season\/","title":{"rendered":"TG4 Confirms 36 Live BKT URC Games and Grand Final for 2026\/27 Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>TG4 is delighted to confirm an extensive season of live <strong>BKT United Rugby Championship<\/strong> action on Rugba\u00ed Beo, with <strong>36 live regular-season matches already confirmed for the 2026\/27 campaign<\/strong>, including <strong>30 games featuring the Irish provinces<\/strong> and six major South African derby fixtures.<\/p>\n<p>The season will culminate with the <strong>Grand Final on Saturday, 19 June, live and exclusive free-to-air on TG4 across the island of Ireland<\/strong>, giving viewers the opportunity to follow the competition from the opening weekend all the way through to its showpiece decider.<\/p>\n<p>Rugba\u00ed Beo begins its new season on <strong>Friday, 25 September<\/strong>, when <strong>Connacht welcome DHL Stormers to Dexcom Stadium at 19:4<\/strong>5. Reigning champions <strong>Leinster<\/strong> will then begin their title defence on TG4 the following day when they travel to Johannesburg to take on the <strong>Lions at Ellis Park<\/strong>. The opening weeks will also see <strong>Munster host Vodacom Bulls at Thomond Park on Saturday, 3 October<\/strong>, Connacht face trips to Benetton and Glasgow Warriors, while Leinster return home after two seasons in the Aviva and welcome Cardiff to the newly redeveloped Laya Arena.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Christmas Interpro takes centre stage<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>One of the highlights of the Christmas sporting calendar will come on <strong>Sunday, 27 December<\/strong>, when <strong>Munster host Leinster at Thomond Park at 19:45<\/strong>, live on TG4.<br \/>\nThe traditional festive meeting between two of Irish rugby&#8217;s great rivals will once again take centre stage on Rugba\u00ed Beo, with Thomond Park providing the setting for one of the most eagerly anticipated fixtures of the Championship season.<\/p>\n<p>Irish interprovincial clashes will feature throughout TG4&#8217;s coverage. <strong>Connacht host Leinster<\/strong> at Dexcom Stadium on 30 October, before <strong>Connacht and Munster<\/strong> meet twice in January &#8211; first in Galway on 2 January and then at Thomond Park on 23 January. Connacht will also host Ulster on 30 January, while <strong>Munster v Ulster<\/strong> at Thomond Park on 8 May will be among the major fixtures during the closing stages of the regular season.<\/p>\n<p><strong>South African derbies live on TG4<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Alongside its extensive coverage of the Irish provinces, Rugba\u00ed Beo will showcase some of the biggest rivalries from elsewhere in the Championship, with <strong>six South African derby fixtures already confirmed live on TG4<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The first South African double-header comes on <strong>Saturday, 10 October<\/strong>, when <strong>Vodacom Bulls face Lions at 12:30<\/strong>, followed by <strong>DHL Stormers v Hollywoodbets Sharks at 15:00<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>A further Christmas double-header will be shown on <strong>Saturday, 19 December<\/strong>, with <strong>DHL Stormers v Lions at 14:00<\/strong> followed by <strong>Hollywoodbets Sharks v Vodacom Bulls at 16:30<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>TG4 will also show <strong>Hollywoodbets Sharks v Lions on 2 January<\/strong> and the return meeting between <strong>Lions and Hollywoodbets Sharks on 20 February<\/strong>, bringing viewers some of the fiercest rivalries in South African club rugby as part of the international scope of the BKT URC.<\/p>\n<p>The Irish provinces will themselves feature prominently in South Africa during the season. Munster travel to Johannesburg to face the Lions on <strong>17 April<\/strong> before meeting DHL Stormers in Cape Town on <strong>24 April<\/strong>, while Connacht travel to Durban to face Hollywoodbets Sharks on <strong>8 May<\/strong> and Pretoria to take on Vodacom Bulls on <strong>15 May<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Leinster begin defence of back-to-back titles<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The new campaign begins with Leinster as <strong>back-to-back BKT URC champions<\/strong>, having retained the title with an emphatic <strong>36-7 victory over Vodacom Bulls at Croke Park in June<\/strong>. The victory secured a tenth league championship for the province across the competition&#8217;s various iterations. <\/p>\n<p>Leinster had finished second in the regular-season standings before defeating the Lions and DHL Stormers in the play-offs on their way to another meeting with the Bulls in the Grand Final.<\/p>\n<p>There was strong Irish representation in last season&#8217;s knockout stages, with <strong>three of the four provinces reaching the Quarter-Finals<\/strong>. Munster finished fifth in the regular season before their campaign ended against the Bulls in Pretoria, while Connacht secured the eighth and final play-off position before travelling to face regular-season table-toppers Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun. Ulster narrowly missed out, finishing ninth. <\/p>\n<p>Connacht pushed Glasgow in an entertaining Quarter-Final before going down <strong>33-21<\/strong>, while Munster&#8217;s campaign ended with a <strong>45-14 defeat to the Bulls<\/strong> at Loftus Versfeld. <\/p>\n<p>With Leinster now seeking a third successive championship and Munster, Connacht and Ulster beginning new campaigns of their own, Rugba\u00ed Beo will once again provide extensive free-to-air coverage of the Irish provinces throughout the season.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gemma N\u00ed Chionnaith<\/strong> and <strong>Cu\u00e1n \u00d3 Flatharta<\/strong> will lead TG4&#8217;s Rugba\u00ed Beo coverage alongside a panel of expert analysts, commentators and reporters.<\/p>\n<p>Coverage of Rugba\u00ed Beo will once again be produced by IRIS Productions, whose work on the programme has received industry recognition at the RTS Ireland Awards, including winning the <strong>Live Sport Coverage<\/strong> award for Rugba\u00ed Beo: Munster v Leinster, Christmas Interpro in 2025. IRIS Productions was also nominated in the same category in 2026 for its coverage of the <strong>URC Final between Leinster and Vodacom Bulls<\/strong>. <\/p>\n<p>Rugba\u00ed Beo coverage of the 2026\/27 BKT United Rugby Championship begins on <strong>Friday, 25 September<\/strong>, with <strong>Connacht v DHL Stormers live from Dexcom Stadium at 19:45<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Follow <strong>Sp\u00f3rt TG4<\/strong> on social media throughout the season for live clips, highlights, interviews and behind-the-scenes coverage from the BKT United Rugby Championship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TG4 is delighted to confirm an extensive season of live BKT United Rugby Championship action on Rugba\u00ed Beo, with 36 live regular-season matches already confirmed for the 2026\/27 campaign, including 30 games featuring the Irish provinces and six major South African derby fixtures. The season will culminate with the Grand Final on Saturday, 19 June, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":876,"featured_media":0,"parent":248746,"menu_order":63,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/template-pr.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>TG4 Confirms 36 Live BKT URC Games and Grand Final for 2026\/27 Season | Press Release | TG4<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TG4 Confirms 36 Live BKT URC Games and Grand Final for 2026\/27 Season | Press Release | TG4\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"TG4 is delighted to confirm an extensive season of live BKT United Rugby Championship action on Rugba\u00ed Beo, with 36 live regular-season matches already confirmed for the 2026\/27 campaign, including 30 games featuring the Irish provinces and six major South African derby fixtures. 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