Premiership Rugby matches will be shown live on terrestrial television for the first time in the competition’s history, as Premiership Rugby and Channel 5 today confirm a landmark four-year deal.

The agreement will see Channel 5 broadcast five live games each season from 2017-18, as well as show a highlights programme every Sunday night, covering Premiership Rugby, Anglo-Welsh Cup and Premiership Rugby 7s.

The new contract has been agreed after a competitive bidding process and will see Channel 5 simulcast five live games with BT Sport, who will continue to broadcast up to 80 live Premiership games per season.

This new deal for club rugby adds to Channel 5’s growing sports portfolio, which includes live boxing and motor sports (including live Formula E Racing), weekly football highlights from across the EFL, as well as its acclaimed cricket highlights package showcasing all England home games. The channel also demonstrated its commitment to live sport recently by providing a terrestrial home for live cricket (also simulcast with BT Sport) for the first time in over a decade, earlier this year, when it broadcast five T20 fixtures from the Australian Big Bash League.

Earlier in the season Premiership Rugby extended its agreement with Perform, one of the world’s leading digital sports content and media groups. The five-year deal with Perform Group confirms that they will continue producing the Premiership Rugby Highlights show.

“This agreement with Channel 5 will supplement the brilliant, season-long coverage we have with BT Sport,” said Mark McCafferty, Chief Executive, Premiership Rugby. “It will give even more fans a taste of the excitement, incredible skills and unpredictability on show in Premiership Rugby every week.

“We have a very successful partnership with BT Sport that has seen our ratings grow by more than 40% across the last four years. This new agreement with Channel 5 complements that partnership and will bring club rugby to a new audience to provide a fantastic shop window.”

Paul Dunthorne, COO of VIMN UK, Northern and Eastern Europe commented: “We’re delighted to build on our growing sports portfolio and give a terrestrial home to Premiership Rugby. This deal underlines our commitment to live sport following our coverage of the Big Bash League, with terrestrial TV viewers enjoying live cricket for the first time in over a decade.

“Premiership Rugby is one of the most exciting competitions in UK sport; we hope our national reach aligned with our commitment to the sport will enable Premiership Rugby to reach new audiences.”

The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) has confirmed the resignation of its Chief Operating Officer, Rob Clarke.

Clarke, who returned to the ARU in 2014 as General Manager Professional Rugby, Marketing and Operations before being promoted to COO in 2015, has called time on a decade-long career in Rugby administration.

Clarke had previously held the COO role at the ARU from 2006-2007 and has also served at the helm of the Brumbies and Melbourne Rebels as Chief Executive Officer.

ARU CEO, Bill Pulver said:  “His resignation was difficult to accept but Rob has decided the time is right to pursue a different course along with his family and he deserves to be incredibly proud of his career in the game.

Clarke will conclude his role with the ARU in June 2017. He has chosen not to comment on his personal decision until the ongoing process in Super Rugby has concluded.

Australia’s Moya Dodd failed in her bid to regain a place on the FIFA council after being beaten by Bangladeshi Mahfuza Akhter Kiron 27-17 in a vote at the congress of the Asian Football Confederation in Manama.

The two other candidates, North Korea’s Han Un Gyong and Palestine’s Susan Shalabi, had withdrawn before the ballot.

Dodd had previously served on the former executive committee of world football’s governing body but only in a co-opted capacity.

China’s Zhang Jian, South Korea’s Chung Mong-Gyu and Philippines’ Mariano Araneta were elected by acclamation to fill Asia’s three available ‘open’ slots on FIFA Council.

Also at the congress was FIFA president Gianni Infantino who told delegations that the world federation was “implementing day by day” its reforms after “some quite difficult times.”

The good news for Asia in particular was that he expected FIFA Council this week to approve proposals that the region’s World Cup allocation would jump from 4.5 slots to 8.5 at the 48-team finals likely to be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada in 2026.

World Rugby will review the preparations for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Kyoto, Japan this week while also taking a look at the candidates vying to host the 2023 edition.

Kyoto will host rugby’s decision-makers for a schedule of meetings that includes Rugby World Cup Limited Board, World Rugby EXCO and World Rugby Council meetings, culminating in the pool draw for the 2019 World Cup on Wednesday.

With Japan preparing to host Asia’s first Rugby World Cup, and the global game experiencing record participation (8.5 million) and fan-base (300 million) growth and Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017 in Ireland set to inspire a new generation of players, the meetings come at an exciting time for the sport.

The Rugby World Cup Limited Board will review hosting preparation for Rugby World Cup 2019 and the latest from the candidate phase of the Rugby World Cup 2023 host selection process as the race to host rugby’s showcase event enters the home straight.

World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont said: “This is an exciting and defining year for our sport as we look to further the competition and regulatory framework that will provide the platform for rugby to continue to sustainably grow in both established and emerging markets.

“Set against a backdrop of strong participation and fan growth, we have achieved agreement on a long-term optimised global calendar that provides certainty and stability over the decade beyond Rugby World Cup 2019, which is a major milestone. This week we will consider the game’s eligibility framework following a detailed review of the criteria governing international representation.

“As rugby grows, we need to ensure that it continues to be relevant and inspiring to the next generation of players and fans. Everyone has a say and everyone has a role to play in our future.

“I would like to thank our friends from the Japan Rugby Football Union, Japan Rugby 2019 organising committee and Japanese rugby community for their warm welcome and look forward to the week ahead.”

The meetings take place at an exciting time for rugby in Asia, where participation across the region has almost doubled since 2009 to more than 500,000 players. A further 610,700 children participated into Get Into Rugby activities in 2016. Later this month IMPACT Beyond RWC 2019 will be launched, an ambitious project to sustainably support and grow rugby participation in Asia, targeting one million new players by Rugby World Cup 2019.

Japan Rugby 2019 organising committee CEO Akira Shimazu added: “We welcome these important meetings that consider the future of rugby, including here in Asia, being hosted in Japan alongside the Rugby World Cup 2019 pool draw.

“The unique significance and opportunity of hosting Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan lies in further spreading rugby in Asia and ensuring rugby is a truly global sport. We will continue to work with World Rugby and Rugby World Cup Limited to build a robust and sustainable legacy through the successful delivery of Rugby World Cup 2019, the first  in Asia.”

Denmark are the first ever GolfSixes champions after a 3-1 victory over Australia in the final at the Centurion Club, St Albans.

The European Tour was breaking new ground in St Albans with 16 teams of two starting the weekend and battling it out first in a group stage and then a knockout over six holes in greensomes.

By Sunday evening only two teams remained and it was Thorbjørn Olesen and Lucas Bjerregaard who took home the trophy after a hard-fought win over Scott Hend and Sam Brazel in front of an excitable crowd.

Entrance music, pyrotechnics and a sprinkling of celebrity gave the event a whole new feel but it was world class golf that proved to be the highlight, with Olesen claiming his second team win for Denmark in six months after his victory at the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf alongside Søren Kjeldsen.

Bjerregaard said: “I think it’s definitely got the crowds’ attention. I was really happy to see how many kids came out these last couple days, and hopefully that will get some of them into golf and think it’s fun.”

Scotland’s Richie Ramsay echoed the Dane’s positive comments on the inaugural event. “It’s been great,” he said. “It’s a really good format. With all the activities around it, the guys have done a great job.

“The biggest thing is, a lot of young kids are out watching and hopefully they take to it and say to their mum and dad – we want to go out there and we want to try golf and see what it’s like. I think it’s something for the future we can build on.”