Johannesburg - SuperSport and e.tv have reached a once-off agreement to broadcast tomorrow’s rugby match between South Africa and England on the free-to-air broadcaster at 10pm.

Happy Ntshingila, CEO of SuperSport, said he was pleased that attempts to make the match available to free-to-air TV viewers has come to fruition, despite the short notice.

Monde Twala, Group Head of e.tv Channels Division, said: “Securing the rights to broadcast the match is not only an important step for the channel but the nations as a whole. The timing constraints were a concern but we do acknowledge that sport is important to the nation. Although we always strive to honour our scheduling commitments, we feel that majority of South African rugby followers will benefit from this great opportunity to indulge in national pride.”

The match will be broadcast live on SuperSport 1 and HD1 from 5pm, on SS4 at 7pm and on e.tv from 10pm.

This follows a joint statement earlier this week from rights holder SuperSport and the SABC that the SABC would not show the matches on television.

SABC acting chief operations officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng had explained that the SABC had decided on principle not to broadcast events it could not show live.