How to Safely Watch the Six Nations Championship in 2024
The Six Nations Championship is an intense Rugby competition, but I was disappointed to learn that you can only stream the matches in the UK and a few other countries.
Theoretically, you could stream the championship matches from anywhere by using a VPN to get a UK IP address. However, this would be against any streaming platform’s terms of service, and my team and I don’t condone anything illegal, such as bypassing geoblocks.
If you’re already in the UK or a country broadcasting the Six Nations Championship, you still need a VPN to ensure you remain safe while streaming. For this purpose, I found ExpressVPN to be the best choice after testing multiple top VPNs. Plus, you can try ExpressVPN risk-free. Its 30-day money-back guarantee means you can get a full refund within this period if you’re unsatisfied with the app’s performance.
Quick Guide: 3 Easy Steps to Watch the Six Nations Championship Safely
- Get a VPN. You should get ExpressVPN because of its unbreakable security and superfast connection speeds.
- Connect to a server. Navigate the server browser and connect to your nearby UK server.
- Stream safely. Securely access ITV Sport or your preferred streaming platform and watch the Six Nations Championship.
Stream the Six Nations online with ExpressVPN
Where to Watch the 2024 Six Nations Online
There are multiple streaming platforms to choose from when watching the Six Nations. Both free and paid streaming options offer you the opportunity to watch the Six Nations without a cable subscription.
Here are the best streaming platforms to watch the Six Nations online:
- BBC Sport (UK and Ireland) — Enjoy a free live stream of every France, Scotland, and Wales home game. If you’re signing up for an account for the first time, you’ll need to enter your UK Postal Code.
- ITV Sport (UK and Ireland) — Watch every England, Ireland, and Italy home game for free.
- France 2 (France) — Enjoy the free French broadcast of all Six Nations matches.
- DMAX (Italy) — Watch every game in the Six Nations for free in Italian.
- Virgin Media One (Ireland) — No subscription is required to livestream the Six Nations from Ireland.
- beIN Sports (Australia and New Zealand) — Subscription required to live stream the entire Six Nations event.
- DAZN (Germany and Canada) — Live stream every Six Nations match with a DAZN subscription. You can get a one-month free trial when you sign up for a monthly or yearly subscription.
- NBC Sports (US) — Get a subscription to stream the US broadcast of the Six Nations. If you have a subscription to NBC through a cable or streaming service, you can watch the games at no extra cost. You can even buy an NBC Sports Gold Rugby Pass for the entire season.
The Best VPNs to Watch the Six Nations Championship in 2024
1. ExpressVPN — Unbreakable Protection and Blazing-fast Speeds For Streaming
Key Features:
- 3,000+ servers in 105 countries.
- Military-grade encryption with DNS and IP leak protection.
- Up to 8 simultaneous connections.
- 24/7 live chat support.
- 30-day money-back guarantee.
During my tests, I found that ExpressVPN offers reliable server connections and fast speeds. I connected to multiple servers in the US, Canada, UK, France, Italy, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand and experienced minor speed drops that didn’t affect browsing or streaming performance.
My speeds were consistently fast on long-distance servers also. Even when connecting to servers in Australia and New Zealand — the two countries that are the furthest from me. My average speed never dropped below 38Mbps.
I also like that ExpressVPN has multiple safety features. Besides its AES 256-bit encryption, it offers leak protection, a no-logs policy, a kill switch, and more to keep you completely safe and anonymous.
You can try ExpressVPN risk-free, as it comes with a generous [VDS: MBG]-day money-back guarantee. If you’re unsatisfied, you can ask for a full refund within this window. I got my money back in just 4 days when I checked its refund policy after finishing my tests. with its 30-day money-back guarantee.
2. CyberGhost — Includes Optimized Servers for Safe and Lag-Free Streaming
Key Features:
- 11,780+ servers in 100 countries, including multiple optimized servers.
- AES-256-bit encryption with DNS and IP leak protection.
- Allows 7 simultaneous connections.
- 24/7 support via live chat and other options.
- 45-day money-back guarantee.
CyberGhost’s global server network makes it an excellent choice for streaming the Six Nations. My colleague in the UK got superfast connection speeds and enjoyed lag-free streams while streaming Six Nations matches while connected to CyberGhost’s optimized servers.
Unfortunately, because there are a limited amount of optimized servers, they’re sometimes too crowded to get good speeds and sometimes I couldn’t even connect to the one I wanted. I advise connecting ahead of any Six Nations match to avoid disappointment at the last minute.
I like that CyberGhost also offers reliable security to keep you safe and anonymous. It uses AES 256-bit encryption to safeguard your connection against cyber threats. Plus, it has a no-logs policy, leak protection, and other safety features to protect your privacy.
You can try CyberGhost risk-free for 45 days. It’s easy to get a full refund if you’re unsatisfied with the app’s performance.
Why You Need a VPN to Stay Safe
While you can watch the Six Nations Championship without one if it’s broadcasting in your country, you need a VPN to ensure you remain safe while streaming. Otherwise, hackers could spy on your activity, and you may leak identifying information like your IP address, thus compromising privacy.
VPNs secure your online activity by using military-grade encryption and other safety features like kill switches. They ensure no one can spy on what you’re doing and keep you completely anonymous online.
Why a Free VPN Isn’t a Good Idea (Especially When Trying to Watch the Six Nations)
Although anything free can sound appealing, I don’t advise using a free VPN to stream any live sports. I’ve tested the best free VPNs available and I can tell you that it’ll be a frustrating experience to stream just a single Six Nations match.
Free VPNs only provide a small amount of bandwidth — so you can expect slow streaming speeds, poor-quality videos, and buffering. You’ll be fighting with other users to connect to a limited number of servers since free VPNs simply don’t have the global resources to offer more options.
Even worse, weak encryption and poor security practices leave your data vulnerable to online surveillance, advertisers, and even hackers. You shouldn’t have to compromise your streaming experience or safety to support your team in the Six Nations.
To get a free VPN with fast streaming speeds and advanced security, I recommend downloading a quality VPN with a money-back guarantee instead. For example, you can use CyberGhost for 45 days for free. Just remember to ask for a refund within one month to get your money back.
FAQs on Watching 2024’s Six Nations Safely
What else can I do with a VPN?
Besides helping you enjoy safe streams, VPNs help do the following:
- Improve gaming performance by connecting you to a server with low ping.
- Keep you anonymous by masking your IP and never keeping logs of your identity.
- Safely torrent files available in the public domain.
How do I connect to a different server?
What does unlimited bandwidth mean and why do I need it?
Unlimited bandwidth means you can download or upload as much data as you want in a given period. It’s sometimes referred to as data transfer rate and is a fairly common feature offered with premium VPNs.
Without it, you risk slower speeds, poor streaming quality, buffering, and an overloaded network. Luckily, all the VPNs I listed above have unlimited bandwidth, so you can binge-watch rugby all day while maintaining decent speeds.
Don’t Miss the Action in the 2024 Six Nations
It’s crucial to get a VPN before streaming the Six Nations Championship or doing anything else online. Otherwise, it’s easy for hackers to track your online activity. Also, you risk leaking identifying information like your IP address if you don’t use a VPN.
The above VPNs offer reliable security through military-grade encryption and various other security features. Plus, they ensure you get fast connection speeds that allow lag-free streaming and browsing.
Of my top choices, ExpressVPN is the best option. It has AES 256-bit encryption, a no-logs policy, leak protection, and more to keep you safe. Plus, its servers maintain consistently fast speeds, regardless of distance. You can also try ExpressVPN risk-free. Its 30-day money-back guarantee lets you get a full refund if you’re unsatisfied with its performance.
