RTÉ Sport has announced today that, in association with the IRFU, it will broadcast live television, radio and online coverage of the Ireland Women’s Rugby team as it aims for a 6 Nations Grand Slam victory this coming Sunday. RTÉ’s transmission of the game will be the first time ever that an Irish Women’s rugby match has been broadcast live on Irish television.
The Ireland Women’s team beat France for only the second time in 6 Nations history last weekend in a 15-10 win, which coupled with England’s defeat of Italy, resulted in Ireland topping the table and winning the Championship with one match left to play. In addition to a historic first ever Triple Crown the team are now aiming to add a possible Grand Slam to their earlier triumph as they take on Italy in their final match of the tournament.
The Italy v Ireland Women’s match will be broadcast live from Parabiago in Milan this St Patrick’s Day, Sunday 17th March from 1.45pm, (KO 2.00pm) on RTÉ Two television, presented by Joanne Cantwell with commentary from Ryle Nugent and former Irish International Rosie Foley. The game will also be streamed live on RTÉ.ie within the island of Ireland, in addition there will be live radio commentary updates throughout the match from Michael Corcoran on RTÉ Radio 1 Sunday Sport.
Ryle Nugent, Group Head of Sport, RTÉ said: “This is a significant investment by RTÉ in the women’s game and we are delighted to be able to bring the match to Irish audiences across all our platforms. The team’s achievements in the Championship this year have been phenomenal and we wish them the best of luck in Sunday’s game.”
IRFU Director of Communication, Stephen McNamara, said: “We are delighted to have been able to secure broadcasting rights from the Italian Rugby Football Union (Federazione Italiana Rugby) to allow RTÉ, our broadcast partner, to broadcast this historic game. The Women’s senior team has worked incredibly hard over many years to achieve this success and we hope that it will be a catalyst for the continued development of, and interest in, the Women’s game.”
Coverage of the Ireland Women’s 6 Nations game is a further addition to a packed weekend of rugby available to the public free-to-air this weekend across RTÉ.
Friday night will see the Ireland U20’s 6 Nations match against Italy streamed live on RTÉ.ie. Saturday will feature the RBS 6 Nations live triple header kicking off with Italy v Ireland followed by Wales v England and France v Scotland, with coverage kicking off at 2.00pm on RTÉ Two television, RTÉ Radio 1 Saturday Sport and RTÉ.ie.
Monday night sees Alan Quinlan, Frankie Sheahan and Gerry Thornley review all the weekend’s rugby with Joanne Cantwell on Against The Head at 8.00pm on RTÉ Two.