By PAUL REES

Chief: Martin Anayi

The United Rugby Championship enjoyed record television audiences last season thanks to the inclusion of South Africa’s leading franchises, who in the coming season will be involved in the two European competitions.
The cross-border tournament has a mixture of broadcasters from pay TV companies Premier Sports and SuperSport in South Africa to RTE in Ireland and BBC Wales.
More than 34 million fans tuned in during the season which was made up on 18 rounds and playoffs. The cumulative average audience per game was 230,000, not far short of BT’s figure of 2...