Foxtel’s coverage of Super Rugby has undergone a significant transformation in 2019, with a number of the matches from the 15-team league being broadcast in the latest in television technology; 4K Ultra HD.
What is 4K Ultra HD TV?
4K is the highest definition broadcast available in Australia, and is also referred to by Foxtel as Ultra HD. Offering up an unrivalled picture quality, it brings the colours, sounds and excitement of whatever it is you’re watching direct to your living room. Using roughly four times the number of pixels as High Definition and twenty times that of Standard Definition, 4K Ultra HD will revolutionise your Super Rugby viewing experience.
How to watch Super Rugby in 4K Ultra HD
Though every game of the 2019 Super Rugby season is available on Foxtel, it won’t all be aired in 4K. These broadcasts will be limited to a relatively select few games, the schedule for which is available below, so make sure you pencil them into your calendar to avoid missing out.
To get the full Super Rugby 4K Ultra HD experience, you’ll need to ensure that you have the iQ4 set-top box as well as a 4K compatible TV. If you’ve got both of these things, simply head to Channel 444 when a selected game is in progress and prepare to watch your favourite players and teams like you’ve never seen them before.
The 4K Ultra HD broadcast will mirror the regular HD broadcast in every other way. You’ll still be able to listen to the same great commentary teams and get the same great analysis to which you’ve become accustomed – the only difference will be the superior quality of the broadcast.
2019 Super Rugby Programming Guide
The 4K Ultra HD options aside, the FOX Sports channel (Foxtel/Kayo) has the most complete coverage of the 2019 Super Rugby season, with every match of every round LIVE and ad-break free during play. Expert commentators and analysts are ready to take you once again through every bone-crunching tackle of the season, allowing you to stay on top of all the action as each team looks to make it out of the Conference Stage.
The season runs across a total of eighteen rounds until June 15, after which the top teams from each Conference, as well as the five with the next best records, advance to the Qualifiers. The finals kick off on Saturday, June 22, and all of this action is available on either Foxtel or the newly launched Kayo Sports streaming service.
2019 LIVE Super Rugby 4K HD TV Fixtures (Sydney time)
| Date | Event | Time | Channel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday 2 March | Reds vs Crusaders | 7.45pm | Foxtel / 4K / Kayo |
| Saturday 9 March | Waratahs vs Reds | 7.45pm | Foxtel / 4K / Kayo |
| Friday 5 April | Reds vs Stormers | 8.00pm | Foxtel / 4K / Kayo |
| Friday 3 May | Reds vs Sunwolves | 7.45pm | Foxtel / 4K / Kayo |
| Friday 7 June | Reds vs Blues | 7.45pm | Foxtel / 4K / Kayo |
*Shown as Sydney time, adjust for regional differences. Due to broadcasting agreement there is no Super Rugby free to air TV provider in Australia.
Stream the Super Rugby Live and Free
If you’re not yet able to watch in 4K Ultra HD, you still have great options for enjoying the action throughout 2019, including watching the Super Rugby online in Australia with Foxtel Now, who are currently offering a 10 day free trial.
Alternatively, you can check out the 14 day free Kayo Sports trial which will offer the exact same 2019 Super Rugby programming as Foxtel. With Kayo you can immediately start streaming Super Rugby live using eligible mobile devices, and with their split-view feature you can catch up to four events at the same time, ensuring you don’t have to miss the other exciting sport on TV scheduled at the same time.
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Every 2019 Super Rugby Match LIVE
Though the 2019 Super Rugby season in its entirety won’t be available on Channel 444, you’ll still be able to find every minute of the action on Foxtel and Kayo Sports. Each and every game throughout the season is aired live and exclusively on FOX Sports, and with no ad-breaks during play as well as a world-class commentary team, you’ll be more than satisfied with the coverage, whether you’re tuning in to the 4K Ultra HD coverage or not.
Must See Super Rugby 4K on Aussie TV
The Reds and the Sunwolves are holding up the bottom half of the Australian Conference, and each will be desperate for a hard-earned victory when they face off on Friday the 3rd of May. The Sunwolves are the only representative of Japan in the league, having entered it in 2016, and since then they have endured a miserable run, winning just six games in their first three years. Their ability to compete has gradually improved over the course of those years, but the Reds will still head in as favourites. Neither side is expected to figure in any significant way at the business end of the season, but each will have pencilled this clash in as one in which they are a big chance to get the points, so expect a fiery contest.
The Reds will once again find themselves on Foxtel’s Ultra HD channel a month later when they match up against cross-Pacific rivals, the Blues, on Friday the 7th of June. Like the Reds, the Blues have had a difficult run in recent years, having not made the finals since 2011 – and it was the Reds who knocked them out on that occasion, the eventual Premiers defeating them in the semi-final. The 2019 incarnations of the two sides aren’t quite what they were back then, but each of them appears to have improved significantly since last year and will be hoping to at least be in contention for the final eight in the latter stages of the regular season. With the two sides potentially in the mix for the lower couple of wildcard spots, there will be an added edge to this one.
What Else is on Channel 444?
Since debuting their Ultra HD Channel late last year, Foxtel has gradually been growing the list of programming – both sport and other – available on the channel. From a sporting perspective, we were first introduced to 4K with the 2018 coverage of the Supercars at Bathurst. Here so far in 2019 Cricket was added to the 4K calendar, and there was also exclusive coverage of Tiger Woods’ incredible Masters victory at Augusta, his first since 2005. Other sport includes 46 games from the AFL Premiership season in Ultra HD that will find their home on Channel 444, as well as 41 from the NRL Premiership season, while select Super Rugby and women’s football matches will also be aired in Ultra HD.
