Amazon Prime Video To Broadcast Newly Created Autumn Nations Cup, Channel 4 To Show Three Free To Air Clashes

Amazon Prime has been announced as the UK Broadcaster of the newly created Autumn Nations Cup Tournament, due to kick-off on the 13th of November.

The Autumn Nations Cup is a new, innovative tournament that will take place over four weekends between November 13th and December 6th, 2020.

The competition will be a unique eight-team competition, involving the Six Nations as well as the rugby unions of Georgia and Fiji.

In recent months as the scale of the challenge presented by the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, it became apparent that fulfilling the traditional Autumn International fixtures would not be possible particularly as a result of travel restrictions preventing certain international teams from competing in scheduled fixtures.

This newly created tournament will replace the traditional Autumn International window for 2020 and ensures rugby fans all over the world will be treated to top class international rugby this Autumn.

Channel 4 have teamed up with Amazon Prime Video to ensure rugby fans can enjoy the entire tournament with Prime Video showing a range of games exclusively which will be available to Prime Members. This tournament follows hard on the heels of the conclusion of the Guinness Six Nations. Prime Video will also carry live coverage of England vs Ireland alongside Channel 4s live coverage.

Channel 4 will show live free to air television coverage of England’s clash with Ireland when the rugby giants meet in the Autumn Nations Cup this November.

Channel 4 – the only place where viewers can enjoy free to air television coverage of the tournament – will also show exclusive live coverage of the inaugural competition’s opening match between Ireland and Wales. In addition to three live matches, Channel 4 will broadcast highlights from all the rounds of the eight-team tournament after striking a deal with Amazon Prime Video.

The Autumn Nations Cup has been lined up to replace the autumn rugby internationals which have been kyboshed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The competition opens on Friday, 13th November, when Ireland take on Wales at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin live on Channel 4. The cup competition will be held over four weeks and features all Six Nations teams – England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales – who will be joined by Georgia and Fiji.

Channel 4’s Head of Sport Pete Andrews said: “We’re delighted to have teamed up with Amazon to bring rugby fans this fantastic tournament. It’s thrilling to be offering first class live international rugby on Channel 4 and it’s great to be launching the tournament live on a Friday night with Ireland v Wales. The England Ireland match-up the following week is a mouth-watering prospect live on Channel 4.

As well as live coverage of Ireland vs Wales (13.11.20) and England vs Ireland (21.11.20), Ireland’s game against Georgia (29.11.20) will also be live on Channel 4.

England will be in one pool with Georgia, Ireland and Wales while France, Fiji, Italy and Scotland make up the other pool. Channel 4 will carry highlights of the tournament’s conclusion, the finals weekend on 6th December. After playing other teams in their pool, the leaders of each table will play each other in a final. A finals weekend will also see the second placed teams of both groups play each other, both third placed teams play and so on. Channel 4’s coverage will be produced by Sunset + Vine Wales.

Channel 4 will also be showing live coverage of the Heineken Champions Cup Final on 17th October, about one month before the Autumn Nations Cup kicks off.

Ben Morel, CEO Six Nations Rugby commented, “We are absolutely delighted to formally announce details of the Autumn Nations Cup. A significant amount of time and effort has gone into delivering this new tournament format in testing circumstances and the spirit of collaboration amongst key stakeholders has been outstanding.

“While the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic made the traditional Autumn Test window unfeasible, we remained determined to deliver a unique and compelling tournament proposition which would ensure world class rugby for our fans globally, and competitive matches for players, unions and federations.

“We cannot wait for the tournament to get underway in November and fans can look forward to some outstanding matches featuring some of the greatest players in the world. We are especially pleased to be joined by Fiji and Georgia and expect them both to be tremendous additions to the competition.”