The Six Nations Championship is an annual international Rugby Union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales. The current champions are Wales, having won last year’s tournament. The 2023 season will begin on Saturday, February 4 with the final round on Saturday, March 18. As you might expect, there is quite a few broadcasters for this championship. If you will be traveling outside the region, want to watch it a different language, or you’re country lacks coverage, you will want to use a VPN. Here are some of the best VPNs to stream Six Nations.
Rank | VPN Service | Our Score | Server Locations | Visit |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 9.8 | 160 | ||
2 | 9.4 | 87 | ||
3 | 9.2 | 95 |
How to Watch Six Nations Free from Anywhere
There are several networks that will show coverage for the tournament. For the sake these instructions, we will use BBC in the United Kingdom
- Sign up for ExpressVPN (includes a 30 day risk-free money-back guarantee)
- Download and install the ExpressVPN app on your device. They offer custom VPN apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. They also offer a router app.
- Connect to a VPN server in the UK so you can get coverage.
- Enjoy the live streaming access of Six Nations through BBC iPlayer for free.
- The ExpressVPN support team is available 24/7 if you have any questions along the way.
Six Nations History
The Six Nations Rugby Tournament has a long history that dates back to 1883. Then, it was called the Home Nations Tournament and only included the countries of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. In 1910, the event changed its name to the Five Nations Championship to reflect the addition of France. It was not until 2000 that it received its’ current name, thanks to Italy being added to the fold.
The Championship format for this annual tournament is simple. Every team plays every other team once (making a total of 15 matches), with home ground advantage alternating from one year to the next. Prior to the 2017 tournament, two points were awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss. It was structured similarly to the way the world cup is contested. As you can see, this tournament stretches out over the course of several weeks.
Six Nations 2023 Schedule and Broadcasters
Let’s take a look at the five rounds of play for 2023. For specific times and channels, you can check the local listings of the broadcast partners. Some of the broadcast partners for this year’s event include ITV Sport, BBC Sport, S4C, DAZN, and NBC Sports Network.
Here’s a quick look at the schedule for all 5 rounds.
- Round 1
- February 4 – Wales vs Ireland, England vs Scotland
- February 5 – Italy vs France
- Round 2
- February 11 – Ireland vs France, Scotland vs Wales
- February 12 – England vs Italy
- Round 3
- February 25 – Italy vs Ireland, Wales vs England
- February 26 – France vs Scotland
- Round 4
- March 11 – Italy vs Wales, England vs France
- March 12 – Scotland vs Ireland
- Round 5
- March 18 – Scotland vs Italy, France vs Wales, Ireland vs England
- March 18 – Scotland vs Italy, France vs Wales, Ireland vs England
If you will be outside of the broadcast areas during Six Nations, you will want to use a VPN to enjoy the tournament. You will be geo-blocked by some countries if you are trying to watch coverage outside of the targeted region. Because of licensing agreements, this technique is used by media companies. Using a VPN will help you get around those types of restrictions.