Key Takeaways: Stream the Rugby Championship
- The Rugby Championship is available for streaming on selected services in the U.K. (Sky Sports), U.S. (FloSport), Australia (9Now and Stan Sport) and Africa (Super Sport).
- Most of these streaming services aren’t free. If you want to watch Rugby Championship for free, your best bet is Stan Sport or 9Network, which are exclusively available in Australia.
- ExpressVPN is the best VPN to access free streaming services outside Australia, thanks to its fast speeds and unblocking ability. NordVPN is a cheaper alternative.
Four Southern Hemisphere rugby beasts — Australia, Argentina, New Zealand and South Africa — lock horns in the 11th edition of the Rugby Championship between July 8 and July 29. Six games are on offer, with each team playing three games in the battle for supremacy. Who will clinch the title? Read on to learn how to watch the Rugby Championship in USA states and abroad.
Despite the shorter tournament format, there’s no doubt that every game will be a firecracker as the four rugby behemoths square off. Sadly, the matches are unavailable on popular sports streaming services such as ESPN, but fret not. In this guide, we’ll show you how to livestream the six games from anywhere.
Remember that some streaming options, particularly the free ones, might not be available in the U.S. You’ll need one of the best VPNs (read our best VPN guide) to circumvent geoblocks. ExpressVPN is the best VPN to livestream the Rugby Championship, but we’ll reveal its worthy alternative to give you more options.
Where to Watch The Rugby Championship: Free, Cheap & Premium Options
The Rugby Championship (formerly Tri-Nations) is available on a few broadcasters across various regions. Sadly, if you’re in the U.S., the tournament isn’t available on popular sports streaming sites like ESPN, but you’re not out of luck. There are multiple options to livestream the games.
Which Streaming Services Have the 2023 Rugby Championship?
We compiled a list of Rugby Championship streaming platforms and countries where they are available. We’ll also highlight which services have free plans or free trials and the games they broadcast on the free plans.
| Service: | Country | Price |
|---|---|---|
| 9Network (9Now) |  Australia |
Free (Wallabies games & selected games) |
| Stan Sport | Australia |
7-day free trial, $10 per month (all games) |
| FloSports* |  USA |
$29.99 per month |
| Sky Sports (SkyGO) |  UK |
£34.99 per month |
| Sky Sports |  Italy |
€20 per month |
| Sky Sports |  New Zealand |
NZ$44.99 per month |
| Super Sport |  Africa |
All games |
| TSNdirect |  Canada |
CA$19.99 per month |
| Canal Plus |  France |
€34.99 per month |
| Movistar+ |  Spain |
€20 per month |
If any of these streaming services is unavailable in your country, fret not. You can now access overseas streaming services (say, Australia) from anywhere using a VPN and livestream the games as if you were in Australia. We’ll reveal how to use a VPN to watch the Rugby Championship, so stand by.
How Can I Watch Rugby Championship for Free?
You can’t livestream the entire tournament for free. However, if you’re operating on a budget, you can watch selected games free of charge. To that end, Stan Sport and 9Now would be your best bets.
All Australian games will air on 9Network, so you can watch half the tournament for free. In other words, with 9Network, you’ll watch the following games for free:
- South Africa vs Australia
- Australia vs Argentina
- Australia vs New Zealand
On the other hand, Stan Sport offers new subscribers a seven-day free trial on the sports add-on that broadcasts the Rugby Championship. That means if you subscribe on the tournament’s first day, you’ll be able to watch the first four games for free.
The only minor quibble is that Stan Sport and 9Network are exclusively available to Australian residents. If you’re outside the country, you’ll need a VPN with a server in Australia to access either streaming service.
Rugby Championship 2023: Match Schedule
The Rugby Championship is ordinarily a 12-game tournament that pits four rugby titans against each other: Australia, Argentina, New Zealand and South Africa. However, because of the 2023 World Cup in France that kicks off in September, SANZAAR — the Rugby Championship governing body — has shortened the 11th edition to six games for the second year.
The heart-pounding action will begin on July 8, with the final round on July 29. Each team will play three games in a home-away format. Argentina and New Zealand will play one home game and two away games, while Australia and South Africa have two home games and one away game each.
Here’s the complete match schedule:
| Round & Dates | Matches | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| Round 1 (Saturday, July 8) |  South Africa Australia |
Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria |
| Round 2 (Saturday, July 15) |  ArgentinaNew Zealand |
Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza |
| Round 3 (Saturday, July 29) | New ZealandSouth Africa |
Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland |
Clash of the Titans: Australia vs New Zealand
The tournament couldn’t have come at a better time for these teams to build the much-needed momentum in the run-up to the Rugby World. All games should be thrilling and highly competitive as the teams test their mettle, fine-tune tactics and assess player performance ahead of the World Cup in France.
That said, Australia vs New Zealand is billed as the clash of the tournament, owing to what happened last year. Remember that the All Blacks claimed a final-round victory on Australian soil against the Wallabies to clinch the 2022 Rugby Championship title — their third successive championship.
Australia is banking on home fans to give the Wallabies the impetus to shake off the home hoodoo and get one over New Zealand. This could be the title decider for both teams, depending on their performance in the preceding rounds. Interestingly, the match is taking place in the final round, just as it was last year.
Watch The Rugby Championship With a VPN
A virtual private network lets you witness every try and bone-crushing tackle on any streaming service from anywhere. In this section, we’ll show you how to use ExpressVPN — the best VPN for Australia and Rugby Championship — to watch the tournament on 9Now outside Australia. Let’s dive in.
- Download and Install a VPN App
Download and install a VPN with servers in Australia on your device. If you want to stream the Rugby Championship on Android or iOS devices, install the VPN from Google Play or Apple’s app store.
- Connect to an Australian Server
Launch the VPN app and complete the setup. Connect to a server in Australia and do a DNS leak test to confirm you got an Australian IP address.
- Create a 9Now Account
On your web browser, go to the 9Now website and select “create your account” to create an account. Enter your email, create a strong password, and click “continue.” Follow along with the account creation wizard to set up your account.
- Complete 9Now Setup
You don’t need an address to set up 9Now, but you do need an Australian postcode. Type the name of an Australian city under the “postal code” section, pick an option from the dropdown options and click “continue.” Select 9Now and click “create account.” Lastly, verify your account and you’ll be good to go.
- Watch the 2023 Rugby Championship
Once the first game rolls around, log in to your 9Now account and select the game you want to watch under “live TV.” You can now enjoy interruption-free Rugby Championship streaming. The good thing is that 9Now works on smart TVs if you want to watch the games on a big screen.
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The Best VPNs for Watching the Championship
We’ve already mentioned ExpressVPN as the best VPN to watch the Rugby Championship. In this section, we’ll tell you why the British Virgin Islands–based provider is our top pick. We’ll also reveal the best ExpressVPN alternative in case ExpressVPN’s pricing puts you off.
1. ExpressVPN
As the best VPN for streaming, ExpressVPN is ideal for livestreaming the Rugby Championship, thanks to its fast speeds and unmatched unblocking ability. The service unblocks any streaming service you throw at it on the first attempt. During our testing, it unblocked 9Now with ease, and the story should be the same with other Rugby Championship streaming platforms.
ExpressVPN is one of the fastest VPNs, offering unlimited bandwidth and data. We got a glimpse of its speed during our testing, as the service enabled us to stream in HD without lags or buffering. The speeds are so consistent that the performance doesn’t dip, whether you’re connecting to a nearby server or one several continents away.
ExpressVPN’s pricing is our only quibble. The one-year plan is the best deal, costing $6.66 per month (if you count the three free months). Although pricey, its feature set and all-around performance are worth it. Thankfully, ExpressVPN has a 30-day money-back guarantee if you change your mind. Read our full ExpressVPN review to learn more.
- Unlimited GB
- 5
- Yes
2. NordVPN
NordVPN is a cheaper ExpressVPN alternative. The service used to struggle to access some streaming services, but that has changed now, and our second pick gives ExpressVPN a run for its money. During our testing, it unblocked 9Now without a struggle, so expect similar results with other Rugby Championship streaming services.
As it stands, NordVPN is the fastest VPN service out there. The service used to lag behind ExpressVPN on this front, but our automated speed test results suggest the Panama-based VPN has edged ahead of our number one pick (read our speed comparison to learn more). You should get interruption-free HD or 4K streaming with NordVPN.
The good thing is that NordVPN is more affordable than ExpressVPN. The monthly plan is still pricey, but extended plans offer significant discounts (the two-year plan, NordVPN’s best deal costs $3.49 per month). Like our top pick, NordVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. Read our full NordVPN review to learn more.
- Unlimited GB
- 6
- Yes
Final Thoughts: Rugby Championship
The Rugby Championship shouldn’t catch you unprepared. If you don’t want to miss the exhilarating clashes, get your subscription ready. If you’re cash-strapped, you could try free streaming services such as 9Now or Stan Sport. Sadly, streaming services are available exclusively in Australia.
If you’re outside Australia, you’ll need a VPN to circumvent the blocks. ExpressVPN is the best VPN for watching the Rugby Championship tournament. With fast speeds and unmatched unblocking, the VPN service delivers an all-around streaming performance. NordVPN is the cheaper alternative. It doesn’t rival ExpressVPN’s unblocking ability, but it easily unblocks all Rugby Championship games.
Have you watched the Rugby Championship on a free streaming service? Which streaming service did you use? Did you use a VPN to access the streaming service, and why? Which VPN did you use? We’d like to hear about it in the comment section. As always, thanks for reading.
FAQ: Watching the Rugby Championship
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If you’re in the U.S., you can follow the action on FloSport. If you’re in the U.K., you can watch the championships on Sky Sports (SkyGO). Rugby fans in Australia can watch the tournament for free on Stan Sport or 9Network.
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Various TV channels will broadcast the Rugby Championship, including Stan Sport (Australia), Super Sport (Africa) and Sky Sport (U.K).
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You can watch the Rugby Championship for free on Stan Sport or 9Network. However, these streaming services are broadcasting only part of the tournament.
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