Rugby World
How to watch European Champions Cup final 2026 for FREE: Live streams, TV channels for Leinster v Bordeaux

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How to watch Montpellier v Ulster: Free channels & streaming info for 2026 European Challenge Cup final

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The 12 greatest players in European Champions Cup rugby history, according to Rugby World

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“I’m a West Ham fan going through the emotional rollercoaster of relegation. Rugby fans deserve the same pain” Editor Joe Robinson

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How to watch Champions Cup rugby: TV & streaming guide for 2025-26 European Cup final

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Gallagher Prem 2025-26: Teams, remaining fixtures and everything you need to know about the run-in

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Nations Championship 2026: Format, fixtures and all need to know about the new bi-annual global rugby competition

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How to watch France v England: Free live streams, TV channels for Women’s Six Nations Grand Slam decider

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How to watch URC rugby: TV channels, live streams for 2025-26 season

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Can South Africa make it a hat trick of Rugby World Cup victories in 2027? (David Ramos - World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images)Everything you need to know about the new-look 24-team tournament taking place in Australia next year.Everything you need to know about the new-look tournament structure in Australia. [...]

Australia 2027

QUALIFICATION PROCESS

BIG 12 AUTOMATIC SPOTS
> As hosts Australia qualify automatically for the 2027 tournament with another 11 teams gaining automatic qualification by finishing in the top three positions in their pools in the 2023 World Cup. Those teams are: South Africa, New Zealand, England, Argentina, Ireland, France, Wales, Fiji, Scotland, Italy and Japan. The remaining 12 spots in the 2027 expanded 24-team format will be allocated through teams competing in a global qualification process.

Four of those spots have already gone to the semi-finalists in the Rugby Rurope Championship, with semi-finalists Georgia, Spain, Portugal and Romania all qualifying for Australia 2027. The winner of the fifth-place play-off will earn a ticket to the Final Qualification Tournament in November, when one place in Australia 2027 will go to the winner of the tournament.

EUROPE – 4 TEAMS
Qualification matches: January-March 2025
> The four teams that reach the semi-finals of the Rugby Europe Championship 2025 will qualify directly for Australia 2027. Nations involved: Belgium, Georgia, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Switzerland.
The winner of the fifth-place play-off will secure their ticket to the Final Qualification Tournament (see below).

ASIA – 1 TEAM
Qualification matches: June-July 2025
> The Asia Rugby Championship 2025 winners will qualify directly for Australia 2027.
Nations involved: Hong Kong China, Korea, Malaysia and United Arab Emirates.
The runner-up in the tournament will progress to the Asia/Africa Play-off (see below).

AFRICA – 1 TEAM
Qualification matches: July 2025
> The Rugby Africa Cup 2025 champions will qualify directly for Australia 2027. Nations involved: Algeria, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Namibia, Senegal, Uganda and Zimbabwe. The runner-up in the tournament will progress to the Asia/Africa Play-off (see below).

SOUTH AMERICA – 1 TEAM
Qualification matches: July-September 2025
> The Sudamerica Rugby Championship 2025 winners will secure their place at Australia 2027, with the runner-up qualifying for the South America/Pacific Play-off (see below) and the third-placed team joining the line-up for the Final Qualification Tournament (see below). Nations involved: Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay.

PACIFIC – 3 TEAMS
Qualification matches: August-September 2025
> The top three teams in the Pacific Nations Cup 2025 (other than already-qualified Fiji and Japan) will qualify for Australia 2027. The sixth-placed team will join the South America/Pacific Play-off (see below). Nations involved: Canada, Fiji, Japan, Samoa, Tonga and the United States.

SOUTH AMERICA/PACIFIC PLAY-OFF – 1 TEAM
Qualification matches: September 2025
> A home-and-away play-off between the runner-up and the team finishing sixth in the Pacific Nations Cup. The winner qualifies for Australia 2027, while the loser will join the Final Qualification Tournament (see below).

ASIA/AFRICA PLAY-OFF
Qualification matches: September 2025
> The Rugby Africa Cup 2025 runner-up will play the Asia Rugby Championship runner-up in a home-and-away play-off. The winner qualifies for the Final Qualification Tournament (see below).

FINAL QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT – 1 TEAM
Qualification matches: November 2025
> The final qualification tournament will comprise one pool of four teams, playing in a round-robin format with the winner - on competition points - qualifying for Australia 2027. The four teams will comprise the Sudamerica Rugby Championship 2025 third-place team; the South America/Pacific Play-off loser; the Rugby Europe Championship 2025 fifth-placed team; and the Africa/Asia Play-off winner.

The full Australia 2027 qualifying process explained

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BBC

Ulster head coach Richie Murphy accepts his side were second best to Montpellier in the Challenge Cup final, but how have they progressed this season? [...]

Ruthless Montpellier ended Ulster's hopes of winning a first trophy in 20 years with a 59-26 victory in the Challenge Cup final in Bilbao. [...]

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen says his side will face a "serious challenge" in Saturday's Champions Cup final with holders Bordeaux. [...]

Bordeaux Begles’ remarkable rise sees them chasing back-to-back Investec Champions Cups on Saturday after gaining promotion to France's top flight in 2011. [...]

Leinster winger Tommy O'Brien passes a fitness check and will start Saturday's Investec Champions Cup final against Bordeaux-Begles at San Mames Stadium (14:45 BST). [...]

England captain Meg Jones and Ireland's talismanic back row Aoife Wafer are on the shortlist for the player of this year's Women's Six Nations. [...]

Ahead of the Investec Champions Cup final, Leinster's Garry Ringrose and Robin McBryde talk evolution, past heartbreak and Bordeaux. [...]

Former Wales international Rhys Thomas recently had a heart transplant in his hometown of Cape Town. [...]

England captain Zoe Stratford will leave three-time reigning PWR champions Gloucester-Hartpury at the end of the season while team-mate Tatyana Heard joins Sale. [...]

With 23 players arriving for 2026-27, Newcastle Red Bulls announce the departures of 26 players from their first-team squad. [...]

Northampton Saints wing Tommy Freeman is nominated for both the Prem and England men's player of the season awards. [...]

Gloucester owner Martin St Quinton says there is "more appetite" for new investment in Prem rugby now relegation has been scrapped. [...]

Cardiff say there will be excuses when they travel to face South Africa next weekend for the URC play-off quarter-final against Stormers. [...]

The Red Roses produce a superb battling display to beat France in Bordeaux in their Six Nations Grand Slam-decider. [...]

Jess Breach finishes off a sweeping move to score a decisive try as England beat France 43-28 to win the Women's Six Nations. [...]