How to watch the Rugby World Cup on TV is as easy as ever, once you find out the necessary details. Gathering them is the tricky part.
Unfortunately, not all of us have put enough pennies away to make the trip to the Land of the Rising Sun but at least we have our televisions. Given a number of broadcasters will be broadcasting games and not all of them are showing every single game, a little studying is required to ensure you can crawl out of bed late and be in front of the box on time for kick-off.
But not too worry, Balls HQ has you sorted.
How many games are RTÉ showing?
Since Eir Sport won the rights for the tournament, the state broadcaster will only broadcast 14 games this year. That's because they have a sub-licensing agreement with Eir but, importantly, they will be showing all of Ireland's games. In addition, they will host all four of the tournament's quarter-finals, both semi-finals and the third-place play-off and final.
The station already showed live coverage of the opening game of the tournament between Japan and Russia and they will also have coverage of France's third game in Pool C against Tonga. However, if you want to watch the rest of the pool games you will need to look elsewhere.
What other broadcasters are showing games?
Eir Sport are showing all games from this year's competition. ITV will also show the majority of the games, though a few of the games including tier 2 nations have been demoted to ITV4.
What pundits will be appearing across the various channels?
On Eir's coverage Tommy Bowe will be in the presenter's chair for his first World Cup. Joining the ex-winger in studio will be former teammates Gordon D'Arcy, Peter Stringer and Jerry Flannery.
Mike Phillips, James Lowe and Scott Fardy will also be involved while current Irish international players Eimear Considine and Louise Galvin will also make appearances. Conor Morris and Liam Toland will be the main commentary team.
Over on RTÉ, Daire O'Brien will front coverage with Michael Lynagh, Alastair Kellock and Rob Penney making cameos. Brent Pope, Jamie Heaslip, Stephen Ferris, Bernard Jackman, Ian Madigan, Fiona Coughlan and Eddie O’Sullivan will also appear. Hugh Cahill and Donal Lenihan will make-up the main commentary team.
Meanwhile, Mark Pougatch and Jill Douglas will be the main presenters on ITV with Craig Doyle and Martin Bayfield also involved. Brian O'Driscoll and Paul O'Connell will be analysts on the channel, alongside a number of other heavy-hitters which include: Johnny Wilkinson, Sam Warburton, Gareth Thomas, Sean Fitzpatrick, Sir Clive Woodward, George Gregan, Bryan Habana, Ian McGeechan, Lawrence Dallaglio, Maggie Alphonsi and Jim Hamilton.
Mike Phillips and Michael Lynagh will also spent some time in the ITV studio when not working for either of the Irish channels. Alan Quinlan will also feature on commentary.
How do I access the ITV channels?
If you have a Sky box you will need to add the channels manually using the codes below:
HD Version
ITV 1 London HD - 11097 - V - DBV-S2 - 8PSK - 23000
SD Version
ITV 1 London - 10758 - V - DBV-S - QPSK - 22000 - 5/6
Unfortunately, you won't have access to ITV1 games if you have a Virgin subscription as they don't carry the channel in this jurisdiction. However, subscribers do have access to ITV4.
