Eir to broadcast Ireland’s clash with New Zealand

Virgin customers will not be able to watch the Test match at Soldier Field in November

Ireland will take on the All Blacks  at Soldier Field in Chicago on November 5th. Photo: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
Ireland will take on the All Blacks at Soldier Field in Chicago on November 5th. Photo: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Eir Sport have confirmed that they will broadcast the Ireland v New Zealand test on Saturday, 5th November in Chicago’s 61,500 seater stadium, Soldier Field. The game will be at 9pm Irish time, and is the first of Ireland’s Autumn test matches.

The Dublin-based sports television company, formerly known as Setanta Sports, will also broadcast the Munster v Maori All Blacks game, which takes place on Friday, November 11th in the sides’ first ever meeting in Thomond Park.

They will also show European Rugby Champions Cup matches, including Leinster’s first game on Saturday, October 15th against Castres, Connacht and Ulster games in Round 2, and December’s double headers involving Leinster and Munster Rugby.

The Eir Sport pack also shows 69 Aviva Premiership games, Leinster Schools Rugby and every game from Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017 next summer, and they will also broadcast the Maori All Blacks v USA Eagles as part of the AIG rugby weekend on Friday, November 4th.

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Looking ahead to the Ireland-New Zealand game in Chicago, Brian Quinn, the Operations Director of eir Sport, said: "It promises to be a fantastic occasion and really adds to our ever growing selection of rugby content. Along with the confirmation of the Conor McGregor v Eddie Alvarez UFC 205 lightweight title fight on Saturday, November 12th, this is more good news for eir Broadband bundle customers, who can receive all of this great sport for free."

The six channel eir Sport pack includes eir Sport 1, eir Sport 2, BT Sport 1, BT Sport 2, BT Sport 3 and BT Sport ESPN. The eir Sport Pack is available on eir Vision, on the eir Sport App, on Vodafone TV and on Sky in the Republic of Ireland. eir broadband customers can receive the eir Sport pack for free.

However, subscribers to Virgin no longer receive the former Setanta or BT Sport channels that are now on the Eir Sport package and as such will not be able to watch Ireland versus the All Blacks.

Gerry Thornley

Gerry Thornley

Gerry Thornley is Rugby Correspondent of The Irish Times