The three-game eToro Test Series between the Wallabies and France concluded on Saturday night, with each of the three games going right down to the wire.
Australia trumped France 33-30 in the third game decider, with the series kicking off the Wallabies new home across Stan Sport, Channel Nine, 9Gem and 9Now. Coverage was spearheaded by hosts Roz Kelly and Nick McArdle, and a host of former Wallaby greats such as David Campese, Tim Horan and Drew Mitchell.
The third match was played in front of a massive crowd at Suncorp Stadium, and saw a rocky start with winger Marika Koroibete red carded in controversial circumstances, reducing Australia to just 14 men for the duration of the contest. But the Wallabies held strong, under guidance from captain Michael Hooper, and held their nerve to hold off the French resistance.
A total of 3,287,000 viewers tuned into the series across all three games on Channel Nine, 9Gem and 9Now, and that doesn’t include those tuning in to the extended coverage on Stan Sport.
The average audience for Saturday night’s third Test on linear broadcast on Channel Nine was 691,000 (Metro: 496,000 / Regional: 195,000), peaking at 952,000 (Metro: 656,000 / Regional: 296,000) for the gripping finish.
For comparison, the Third test achieved an average audience 10% higher on linear broadcast alone than the highest-rating free-to-air rugby game of 2020. The fourth and final game of the Bledisloe Cup Series against the All Blacks was aired on Channel 10 and had 599,000 viewers (Metro 420,000 Regional 179,000).
On 9Now, the Third Test experienced a live BVOD audience of 35,000 (up 11% from the 2nd Test), including 104,000 stream starts (up 13% from the 2nd Test), and 4 million live minutes streamed (up 11% from the 2nd test).
Brent Williams, Nine’s director of sport, said “Following on from an incredible Wimbledon campaign, we couldn’t have asked for a better Wallabies debut on both Nine & STAN Sport. A huge number of Australians were drawn to the series against France and they were rewarded with incredibly exciting, last minute finishes in all three matches. With more great rugby just around the corner, it’s a brilliant time to be a fan.”
Stan acting chief executive officer Martin Kugeler said: “We are extremely pleased to see another record number of viewers on Stan Sport for Saturday’s decider, which was the highest performing match of the series. This capped off a massive day for rugby on Stan, with our exclusive coverage of matches between All Blacks and Fiji as well as Tonga and Samoa also being very popular. We have no doubt these numbers will only increase further with the highly anticipated Bledisloe Cup and The Rugby Championship series coming up on Stan Sport.”