World Rugby’s new Nations Championship is back for its second window. Twelve teams, six from the Six Nations and six from the southern hemisphere, play three more rounds in November, then everything is decided on one Finals Weekend at Twickenham.
If you’re at home, finding the match is easy: most of it is free-to-air. If you’re travelling, you’ll run into geo-blocks almost everywhere. Here’s who’s showing it, what’s free, and the VPNs we’d use to watch your usual coverage from abroad.
Quick answer: the best VPNs for the Nations Championship
- NordVPN: best overall, 5/5 on streaming
- ExpressVPN: Excellent on every platform we test, but pricier
- Surfshark: best value, unlimited devices
- CyberGhost: cheapest solid option, 45-day refund window
Nations Championship 2026: November dates
According to TechRadar’s schedule (UK kick-off times), the November rounds look like this.
Round 4
- Friday 6 November: Ireland vs Argentina (8.10pm)
- Saturday 7 November: Italy vs South Africa (11.40am), Scotland vs New Zealand (2.10pm), Wales vs Japan (4.40pm), France vs Fiji (8.10pm)
- Sunday 8 November: England vs Australia (3.10pm)
Round 5
- Friday 13 November: France vs South Africa (8.10pm)
- Saturday 14 November: Italy vs Argentina (11.40am), Wales vs New Zealand (2.10pm), England vs Japan (4.40pm), Ireland vs Fiji (8.10pm)
- Sunday 15 November: Scotland vs Australia (3.10pm)
Round 6
- Saturday 21 November: England vs New Zealand and Scotland vs Japan (2.10pm), Ireland vs South Africa and Italy vs Fiji (4.40pm), France vs Argentina and Wales vs Australia (8.10pm)
Finals Weekend at Twickenham, according to Wikipedia’s tournament page, runs from Friday 27 to Sunday 29 November. Teams meet their counterpart from the other hemisphere by final standing (6th vs 6th, 3rd vs 3rd and so on), and the final between the two group winners kicks off at 4.40pm UK time on Sunday 29 November.
After the July window, France led the European group and South Africa and New Zealand were level at the top of the other.
Who broadcasts the Nations Championship
Coverage is split by country. Based on Rugby World’s broadcast guide and TechRadar:
| Country | Broadcaster | Free? |
|---|---|---|
| UK | ITV1, ITV4 and ITVX (S4C and BBC iPlayer for Wales games in Welsh) | Yes, TV Licence needed for live TV |
| Ireland | Virgin Media, Virgin Media Play | Yes, sign-up required |
| France | TF1, TF1+ | Yes |
| USA and countries without a rights holder | RugbyPass TV | Yes, free account |
| Australia | Stan Sport (all games), 9Now (Wallabies home games) | 9Now only |
| New Zealand | Sky Sport NZ | No |
| South Africa | SuperSport | No |
| Italy | Sky Sport Italia | No |
| Japan | Wowow | No |
| Canada | Premier Sports | No |
So if you live in the UK, Ireland, France or the US, you already have free coverage. The problem only starts when you leave.
Why you need a VPN to watch abroad
Every one of those services checks your IP address. ITVX only works in the UK, TF1+ restricts its live sport to France, Virgin Media Play to Ireland, and RugbyPass TV is only free in countries where nobody else holds the rights. A Scotland fan in Spain or a French expat in Canada gets an error message.
A VPN gives you an IP address in your home country so your usual service works again. The catch is that broadcasters actively block VPN servers, which is why the provider you choose matters.
How we picked
None of the rugby broadcasters above are in our streaming test grid, so we don’t claim a TF1+ or ITVX score we haven’t measured. Our closest benchmark is BBC iPlayer, the UK public broadcaster we do test, which is known for strict VPN detection. We combined that with each VPN’s overall streaming score, speed, and refund window.
| VPN | Overall | Streaming | BBC iPlayer | Speed | 1-year plan | Refund |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NordVPN | 4.63/5 | 5/5 | Excellent | 5/5 | $68.85 (~$5.74/mo) | 60 days |
| ExpressVPN | 3.72/5 | 5/5 | Excellent | 5/5 | $99.95 (~$8.33/mo) | 30 days |
| Surfshark | 4.08/5 | 4.5/5 | Good | 5/5 | $59.76 (~$4.98/mo) | 30 days |
| CyberGhost | 3.58/5 | 4/5 | Good | 4/5 | $47.88 (~$3.99/mo) | 45 days |
1. NordVPN: best VPN for the Nations Championship
NordVPN is our first pick. It scores 5/5 on streaming in our database and Excellent on BBC iPlayer, the toughest UK test we run. Speed is 5/5, which matters when you’re watching a scrum in HD over hotel Wi-Fi. It has servers in all the key countries, 6,274 servers in 104 countries in total.
At 4.63/5 it’s also the best-rated VPN overall in our database, with a PwC-audited no-logs policy and RAM-only servers. The 1-year plan costs $68.85 (about $5.74 a month), and the 60-day money-back guarantee covers the whole November window and Finals Weekend twice over.
Get NordVPN for the Nations Championship
2. ExpressVPN: most consistent on streaming
ExpressVPN is rated Excellent on all seven streaming platforms in our tests, BBC iPlayer included. If you want the lowest chance of hitting a “not available in your region” screen at kick-off, it’s the safest bet. Speed is 5/5.
It costs more: $99.95 for a year, about $8.33 a month. It has no built-in ad blocker, and its overall score (3.72/5) suffers on ownership and ethics.
3. Surfshark: best value
Surfshark scores 4.5/5 on streaming and Good on BBC iPlayer. It’s fast (5/5) and allows unlimited devices, so one subscription covers everyone in the pub-on-the-sofa group. At $59.76 a year (about $4.98 a month) it’s the best balance of price and streaming results here.
4. CyberGhost: cheapest solid option
CyberGhost scores 4/5 on streaming, Good on BBC iPlayer, and has 6,200 servers in 90 countries. At $47.88 a year (about $3.99 a month) with a 45-day refund window, it’s a cheap way to cover the November window. Speed (4/5) and its no-logs score (3/5) are a step below the others.
Want to compare all VPNs side by side? Check our full VPN comparison table with scores across 18 criteria.
How to watch the Nations Championship abroad
- Sign up for a VPN from the list and install it on the device you’ll watch on.
- Connect to a server in your home country: UK for ITVX, France for TF1+, Ireland for Virgin Media Play, US for RugbyPass TV.
- Clear your browser cookies or restart the broadcaster’s app.
- Log in to your usual account and find the match.
Do a test run a day before kick-off. If the stream won’t load, switch to another server in the same country. Our guide to watching ITVX abroad has more detail for UK viewers, and Australians can check our best VPN for Stan.
A word on the rules
VPNs are legal in the UK, Ireland, France, the US and most countries you’d travel to. Broadcasters’ terms are another matter: ITVX live TV requires a valid UK TV Licence, and free services are licensed for viewers in their own country. This guide is for people who already have access at home and want it while away, not for getting a paid service for free from somewhere else.
Don’t use a free VPN for live sport
Free VPNs are a poor fit for live rugby. Data caps run out within a match, crowded servers buffer at the worst moments, and their IP addresses are usually already blocked by broadcasters. If you only need coverage for three weekends, a paid VPN with a money-back guarantee costs you nothing if you cancel in time.
If rugby isn’t the only sport you follow from abroad, our best VPN for sports streaming guide covers football, F1, tennis and more.
Most of the Nations Championship is free at home: ITVX in the UK, Virgin Media Play in Ireland, TF1+ in France and RugbyPass TV in the US. Abroad, a VPN brings that coverage back. NordVPN is our pick, with 5/5 on streaming, Excellent results on BBC iPlayer and a 60-day refund window that covers the whole November window and Finals Weekend. Try NordVPN before the 6 November kick-off.