Domestic rugby returns to free-to-air TV after 25-year absence

Golden Lions Rugby Union (GLRU) on Thursday announced the return of domestic club rugby to free-to-air television for the first time in more than 25 years, thanks to a groundbreaking partnership with digital broadcaster Sport Entertainment International (SEI) and the SABC.

Two of South Africa’s most historic clubs, Pirates and Pretoria Harlequins, will clash in a Jukskei derby with a difference in the inaugural pre-season SupaRugby Cup on Saturday, 17 April, at the Harlequins Club in Groenkloof, Pretoria. The match will be broadcast live at 17:00 on SABC Sport on OpenView HD; live-streamed worldwide on SEI’s digital platform (www.seisport.tv); and delayed-live broadcast at 23:00 on SABC 2.

Local rugby back on the box

Pirates, founded in 1888, are the oldest club in Johannesburg. As the first affiliated members of the-then Transvaal Rugby Union, Pirates will be flying the Lions flag when they travel to Pretoria to meet Blue Bulls rivals Quins, who were founded in 1902 and remain the oldest affiliated Harlequins club in the world.

“We are very proud to make this announcement given the effects that Covid-19 global pandemic has had on club rugby and the game as a whole,” said GLRU president, Neville Jardine. “It once again goes to show that club rugby, which has been played in Gauteng for over 130 years and has survived two world wars, remains as resilient as ever.

“Our broadcast partnership with SEI and the SABC is one of the most exciting developments in club rugby in the professional era and I have no doubt that our viewership reach will help us to grow the game not only in our province but across South Africa.”

Pirates Club chairman Brad Guymer echoed Jardine’s thoughts. “The club rugby landscape is unrecognisable from the last time fans were able to watch it on the SABC, during the old Toyota Club Championships in the early nineties,” he said. “I would like to think that many of the changes have been positive and have resulted in a community game that is more professionally run and of a far higher quality. 

“Players these days generally dedicate more of their spare time to training and the result is a club game that is more exciting to watch and a far better commercial product for sponsors to associate themselves with.”

Guymer said that the cancellation of the 2020 season due to the pandemic had resulted in record numbers of players eagerly joining the club for pre-season training, following the announcement by SA Rugby that clubs could now resume matches, albeit according to strict Covid-19 protocols.

“The broadcast and commercial profile of club rugby has increased exponentially in recent years thanks to tournaments such as SARU’s Gold Cup, and players now see the club game as a stepping stone to the professional ranks,” said Guymer. “As SARU’s director of rugby, 2019 Rugby World Cup-winning coach Rassie Erasmus recently took over the development of club rugby from a national perspective and has included it as part of his elite player development pathways.

“Rassie believes that clubs will once again produce Springboks in future and World Cup Final hero Makazole Mapimpi is living proof of Rassie’s vision. Mapimpi played for East London’s Winter Rose before being given an opportunity at a higher level and now with the increased exposure that the likes of the GLRU, SEI and the SABC will be giving to club players, I have no doubt that the future for the community game is bright.”

Issued by Sport Entertainment International in partnership with the Golden Lions Rugby Union & the SABC.