It's Rugby Season, America. Here's What's On FloRugby This Week
It's Rugby Season, America. Here's What's On FloRugby This Week
The Bledisloe Cup, Springboks and Pumas, 2024 Olympic hero Antoine Dupont and the start of the 2024-2025 URC season highlight a loaded week of rugby.
It’s rugby season, America, and FloRugby is streaming it.
September is the best of both worlds, as the summer international season comes to a close, and the professional seasons in Europe ramp up.
And this week will be one big ramp.
The United Rugby Championship returns this week for its fourth season in its current form, with 16 teams, four shields and clubs from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy and South Africa.
Meanwhile, in France, the Top 14 season is entering Week 3 and already has seen several nail-biting matches.
Week 3 features Toulouse and Olympic star Antoine Dupont on the road at MHR.
- Subscribe To Watch Every 2024-2025 Top 14 And EPCR Championship Game
- 100 Best Rugby Players In The World: Here's The Full List
- Check Out The Rugby Streaming Schedule On FloRugby
And while two of the European major professional leagues start their journeys to their respective finals next summer, the summer international season and The Rugby Championship enters its final stages.
South Africa Rugby has all but sealed The Rugby Championship, but the Springboks will be tested this week by an Argentina team that already beat Australia and New Zealand. Argentina will host the Springboks at 5 p.m. ET on Sept. 21.
And then there were two... 🇦🇷🇿🇦
— FloRugby (@FloRugby) September 8, 2024
The final two rounds of The Rugby Championship are going to be spicy!
Catch all of the action live and exclusively on FloRugby to see who takes it between the @Springboks and @lospumas #TRC2024 #RSAvNZL #ARGvAUS #ARGvRSA #AUSvNZL pic.twitter.com/uAD2BxMWBx
And that’s just half of it.
The only place to watch the Bledisloe Cup in the United States is on FloRugby. The New Zealand All Blacks will travel to Australia for the first of two matches at 1:45 a.m. EDT on Sept. 21.
All that, and there’s even a championship match this week.
The Currie Cup Championship in South Africa will include the Lions and the Hollywoodbets Sharks playing for one of the most prestigious South African domestic league championships. The Lions and the Sharks will begin URC play in Week 2.
It’s a big week of rugby, with some best players in all the hemispheres streaming on FloRugby and the FloSports app, and we have all the games covered.
Here’s what to know about rugby this week, America:
First: Subscribe To FloRugby To Watch The Best Players, Countries And Clubs In The World
From The Rugby Championship and various international friendlies, to the professional leagues across the world, no streaming service has more rugby than FloRugby.
With annual and monthly subscription options at FloRugby, fans can watch the conclusion of The Rugby Championship this month, featuring the No. 1 team in the world, South Africa, and No. 3 team New Zealand.
Fans also can watch all their favorite European club teams in the United Rugby Championship, Top 14 and later this year, the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup.
FloRugby is the only place in America you can watch all that action.
The First FloRugby Professional Club Rankings To Be Released Tuesday
FloRugby reporter and analyst Philip Bendon is releasing his rankings of the top 50 professional clubs in the world on Sept. 17 on FloRugby.
The rankings will include clubs from all over the world, including Major League Rugby teams. Many of the clubs, even those in the Gallagher Premiership, will be streaming on FloRugby this season.
The South Africa URC Shield Not In Action This Week; But The Currie Cup Is On FloRugby
The URC will be missing the DHL Stormers, Vodacom Bulls, Emirates Lions and Hollywoodbets Sharks in Week 1.
Those clubs will make up their Week 1 matches later this season, as two of the teams, the Lions and Sharks, play for the Currie Cup Championship in Johannesburg at 9:55 a.m. EDT on Sept. 21. The match will be streaming live on FloRugby.
Many of the rest of the top South African players will be in Argentina for the penultimate round of The Rugby Championship.
TGIF Indeed. Edinburgh Vs. Leinster Rugby And Late Night With The Wallabies And All Blacks
One of the best professional clubs in the world, Leinster Rugby of Dublin, travels to Edinburgh, Scotland, on Friday to take on Edinburgh.
Leinster once again is the preseason favorite to win the URC (something it has not done since the new league format began) and will be among the favorites to win the Investec Champions Cup later this season.
The Edinburgh vs. Leinster Rugby match is one of two URC matches Friday, with Cardiff, which will host the Investec Champions Cup final next spring at Principality Stadium, playing Zebra Parma at Cardiff Arms Park in Wales.
Both URC matches are at 3:45 p.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 20.
Between the end of the URC matches and the start of the late-night (early morning, if we're being specific) Australia vs. New Zealand match, is Round 9 action of the Farah Palmer Cup, the women’s professional rugby tournament in New Zealand.
The Bledisloe Cup starts at 1:40 a.m. ET and will feature two of the sport’s most proud rugby nations.
Also, to tie it all together, playing for New Zealand is future Leinster star Jordie Barrett, who will join the Irish club after the international season ... so stay up late American Leinster fans!
Australia Rugby Has Not Beaten New Zealand In Almost Four Years
It has been nearly an entire presidential term in the United States since the All Blacks lost to their rivals, the Wallabies. Since winning in Brisbane on Nov. 7, 2020, New Zealand has gone 7-0 in Bledisloe Cup matches. But the last time they met in 2023, Australia nearly beat NZL, before losing 23-20.
It has been a tough summer for the Wallabies, but they have a chance to end on a high note with two matches against the All Blacks.
Saturday Is For Rugby On FloRugby
Speaking of Sept. 21, FloRugby is streaming matches all day.
At 8:30 a.m. ET, Week 3 of the Top 14 schedule begins with Antoine Dupont and Toulouse traveling to MHR.
Then at 9:55 a.m. ET, the Currie Cup Championship, which has been played in South Africa since 1892, will feature the Lions and the Sharks.
Welsh clubs, the RFC Dragons and Ospreys, begin the URC Saturday slate at 10 a.m. ET.
Meanwhile, we have the first match between Irish Shield teams in the URC at 12:30 p.m., when Munster hosts Connacht at Thomond Park.
At 3:05 p.m. ET, UBB Rugby and star Damian Penaud take on Owen Farrell and Racing 92.
Blast The Bagpipes And Watch The Glasgow Warriors Begin Their URC season
The Glasgow Warriors beat the Vodacom Bulls in the URC Grand Final in June for their first major championship since 2015. The Warriors will end the Saturday URC slate at 2:45 p.m. ET on the road when they face Ulster Rugby in Belfast at Kingspan Stadium.
End Saturday By Watching The Best In The World, South Africa Rugby
Brew some more coffee, open another bag of chips, perhaps have an ice cold beverage handy, if needed, and settle in for more rugby on Saturday... Because at 4:55 p.m. ET, the two-time defending Rugby World Cup champions and No. 1-ranked team in the world, the South Africa Springboks, play Argentina.
After two amazing matches and wins against No. 3 New Zealand in The Rugby Championship, the Springboks play the Pumas, the No. 7-ranked team in the world at Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades in Santiago del Estero. Argentina crushed - crushed - Australia on Sept. 7 by a score of 67-27. In August, Los Pumas stunned the All Blacks in Wellington, 38-30.
Can Argentina be the first team since Ireland in the 2023 Rugby World Cup to beat the Springboks?
Here are some more things to know about rugby on FloRugby:
When Does The 2024-2025 Investec Champions Cup Begin? When Is The Champions Cup Final?
The Investec Champions Cup and the EPCR Challenge Cup will begin Dec. 6, and the four-round pool-play action ends Jan. 19, 2025. The Round of 16 starts April 4, while the quarterfinals are April 11-13. The semifinals will be May 2-4.
The EPCR Championships weekend will be at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. There will be championship games on May 23 (EPCR Challenge Cup) and May 24 (Investec Champions Cup).
What Are The Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup Pools?
Here are the pools:
Investec Champions Cup:
- Toulouse (Stade Toulousain)
- Bordeaux-Bègles (Union Bordeaux-Bègles)
- Hollywoodbets Sharks
- Exeter Chiefs
- Leicester Tigers
- Ulster Rugby
Pool 2:
- Leinster Rugby
- Clermont Auvergne (ASM Clermont Auvergne)
- La Rochelle (Stade Rochelais)
- Bristol Bears
- Benetton Rugby
- Bath Rugby
Pool 3:
- Northampton Saints
- Munster Rugby
- Vodacom Bulls
- Stade Français Paris
- Saracens
- Castres Olympique
Pool 4:
- Glasgow Warriors
- Racing 92
- Sale Sharks
- DHL Stormers
- Toulon (RC Toulon)
- Harlequins
EPCR Challenge Cup
Pool 1:
- Cardiff Rugby
- Connacht Rugby
- Toyota Cheetahs
- Perpignan (USAP)
- Lyon Olympique Universitaire (Lyon O.U.)
- Zebre Parma
Pool 2:
- Montpellier Hérault Rugby
- Pau (Section Paloise)
- Newcastle Falcons
- Dragons RFC
- Emirates Lions
- Ospreys
Pool 3:
- RC Vannes
- Black Lion
- Bayonne (Aviron Bayonnais)
- Scarlets
- Edinburgh Rugby
- Gloucester Rugby
When Does The Super Rugby Season Start?
The 2025 season will begin Feb. 14, 2025. The season has been extended to 16 rounds. Teams will play 14 regular-season matches.
Here are some of the changes:
- 11 teams competing as follows; ACT Brumbies, Blues, Chiefs, Crusaders, Fijian Drua, Highlanders, Hurricanes, Moana Pasifika, NSW Waratahs, Queensland Reds and Western Force
- Teams will play 14 regular-season matches, consisting of seven home games and seven away games, and be allocated two byes.
- Teams will play four teams twice, with a focus on rivalry matchups, and the six remaining teams once.
- The top six teams on the table at the end of the regular season will qualify for the three-week Finals Series
- In Week 1 of the Finals Series, qualifying matches will be 1 v 6, 2 v 5 and 3 v 4, with the higher-seeded teams hosting.
- The three winners of the qualifying matches will progress to the semifinals.
- They will be joined by the highest-seeded losing team (the ‘lucky loser’), which will drop one seeding for the semifinal draw.
- Semifinals will be 1 v 4 and 2 v 3, with the higher-seeded teams hosting.
- The two winners of the semifinals will progress to the Grand Final, which will be hosted by the higher-seeded team
Which Professional Rugby Clubs Won Championships in 2023-2024
- Investec Champions Cup: Toulouse
- EPCR Challenge Cup: Hollywoodbets Sharks
- Top 14: Toulouse
- United Rugby Championship: Glasgow Warriors
- Super Rugby: Blues
- Gallagher Cup Premiership: Northampton Saints
How To Watch Rugby Matches In the United States On FloRugby
FloRugby and FloSports also are the U.S. home to:
FloRugby also is home to match archives and match replays.