Sky Sports, the major UK pay-TV broadcaster, has extended its rights agreement with SANZAAR, the alliance of rugby union’s major southern hemisphere nations, covering its national competitions and club-based Super Rugby Pacific for another five years.
SANZAAR comprises the unions of New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and Argentina, and the extension will see Sky Sport continue to air the flagship Rugby Championship national teams competition, as well as various Test matches from 2026 to 2030.
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The extension builds on Sky Sports’ previous rights deal with SANZAAR, which ran from 2022 to 2025.
Sky’s new agreement starts with exclusive rights to the New Zealand All Blacks’ first tour to South Africa in 30 years, dubbed the ‘Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry’ tour, which kicks off on August 7, featuring four test matches between the two nations and four non-test matches against club sides.
The pay-TV broadcaster will also air South Africa’s Springboks’ return tour of New Zealand in 2030.
The new agreement includes the 2027, 2028, and 2029 editions of the Rugby Championship, home Tests involving Australia’s Wallabies and Argentina across August and September this year, including Wallabies’ Bledisloe Cup Tests against the All Blacks.
As part of its announcement, Sky Sports said it has also retained rights to the regional Super Rugby Pacific club competition.
SANZAAR chief executive Brendan Morris said: “SANZAAR is delighted to retain Sky Sports as a rights holder broadcaster in the UK for the next iteration of our international rugby tournaments.
“We have partnered with Sky Sports for over 25 years, and rugby fans in the UK will continue to enjoy world-class action from Super Rugby Pacific, The Rugby Championship, Bledisloe Cup and additional tour matches, including this year's series between South Africa and New Zealand.”
The new deal comes after SANZAAR announced major changes to its international calendar over the next five years, including dropping the Rugby Championship this year to make room for New Zealand’s tour to South Africa, as well as World Rugby’s inaugural Nations Championship.
In 2027, meanwhile, the Rugby Championship will return in an earlier slot in July and August before the Rugby World Cup in Australia – the first time it will be held in the same year as the sport’s flagship tournament.
The competition will then be played in 2028 and 2029 before pausing again in 2030 for an international multi-week tour, played in the August-September window.
The calendar also includes the proposed Nations Championship to be played in 2026, 2028, and 2030.
The new biennial international tournament is set to feature 12 of the world’s top rugby nations, established as a joint venture between the European Six Nations (England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, and Italy) and the SANZAAR unions.
Two more nations will be invited to compete in the tournament, with matches played in July and November every two years. London is expected to host the first edition in 2026.
The tournament will feature group stage games to decide seedings, before the sixth-ranked Six Nations team plays their southern hemisphere counterpart (fifth plays fifth, and so on). A Grand Final will then be held between the top two nations.
The international rugby schedule in the southern hemisphere within the five-year cycle will also include the 2029 Women’s Rugby World Cup in Australia and the 2029 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand.
