The ESPN Africa regional broadcaster has snapped up English-language rights to French men's rugby's premier Top 14 competition in a multi-year tie-up.
The Disney-owned broadcaster will cover the action across rugby-loving South Africa – and, indeed, sub-Saharan Africa as a whole – on both its linear channels, and via the Disney+ streaming service.
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Each weekend, four games from the competition will be aired live, with six of the post-season playoff fixtures to also be shown.
The deal has been struck in time for the upcoming weekend of Top 14 fixtures – on Saturday, three games will be shown, in which Stade Rochelais will take on Union Bordeaux Bègles, Aviron Bayonnais will play Section Paloise, and Castres Olympique will face off against Stade Toulousain.
Then on Sunday, Racing 92 will play Stade Français Paris.
Up to this point, 2025-26 Top 14 action has been shown in South Africa by national free-to-air broadcaster SABC.
Kyle de Klerk, director of sports at The Walt Disney Company Africa, has said: "We are delighted to welcome the Top 14 French Rugby League to the ESPN Africa offering. The Top 14 is considered as the leading domestic rugby competition globally, and we are excited to offer our audiences the very best in European rugby competition alongside our wide breadth of premier sports programming."
In terms of other top-level rugby union available on ESPN Africa, that broadcaster also holds rights to the Japan Rugby League One.
Yann Roubert, the Ligue Nationale de Rugby's president, added: "This agreement with ESPN Africa marks an important step in the international growth of the Top 14. It will give more fans across a major rugby region the opportunity to experience the intensity, passion, and unique identity of French professional rugby."
Multiple South African players currently represent Top 14 sides, with that number including Jean-Luc du Preez, Arno Botha, and Nico Janse van Rensburg.
The 2025-26 Top 14 season got underway on September 6 and will come to an end on June 27.
Domestically, the league is shown by pay-TV heavyweight Canal Plus, while the final is made available free-to-air by France TV.
