Virgin Media and RTÉ join forces to bring the Six Nations free-to-air

RTÉ and Virgin Media Television today announced details of a historic partnership to bring all of the 2022 Six Nations rugby action free-to-air for Irish sports fans.

Starting on Friday, February 4, with Ireland's Under 20s taking on France, coverage includes all matches from the country's men's, women's and Under 20s' tournaments.

The partnership will see all matches in the Guinness Six Nations equally aired across both broadcasters, showcasing the agonies and ecstasies of the championship.

Ireland's men open the 2022 edition of the Six Nations on Saturday, February 5, against reigning champions Wales. On March 26, the Women's Six Nations begins, with current title holders England taking on age-old rivals Scotland.

Commenting on today's announcement, Dee Forbes, RTÉ director general, said: “There's always great excitement among sports fans at this time of the year about the start of the Six Nations rugby action and more so this year with all three tournaments – men's, women's and Under 20s' – being available free-to-air on RTÉ and Virgin Media Ireland.

“We are delighted to have the Guinness Six Nations back on RTÉ and we are looking forward to bringing great coverage and analysis of all three championships to audiences across our services.”

Paul Farrell, Virgin Media Television managing director, added: “This unique partnership puts sport and rugby fans first and we’re delighted that this historic agreement ensures that the Six Nations rugby across the three competitions will continue to be available to Irish audiences on free-to-air television.”

RTÉ’s comprehensive Six Nations Rugby coverage of all 45 matches across the three tournaments includes exclusive free-to-air matches on RTÉ2, RTÉ Radio and RTÉ Player, while RTÉ.ie/Sport will have minute-by-minute match coverage alongside news, analysis and interviews and on @RTErugby. Against The Head returns with the latest news and discussions on Monday nights on RTÉ2, and RTÉ Sport will bring fans closer to all things Six Nations on the RTÉ Rugby Podcast. RTÉ News will have the latest coverage around the Six Nations, including updates on the RTÉ News Now app.

Virgin Media Television will broadcast live and exclusive coverage across Virgin Media One, Virgin Media Two, Virgin Media Sport and Virgin Media Player. Coverage will be live every weekend, with weekly studio highlights starting on Sunday at 8 p.m. on Virgin Media Two. The weekly VMTV Rugby Podcast will keep you up to date with all things Six Nations. There will also be updates across Virgin Media News bulletins and on the @VMSportIE Twitter page. If you miss any of the action Virgin Media Sport will have extended highlights of all the matches from the weekend throughout the week.

Fans will also see a new Six Nations promotional campaign, created by RTÉ and Virgin Media Television, broadcast on both channels – a first for both stations.

Guinness Six Nations men's rugby coverage on RTÉ and Virgin Media is sponsored by Vodafone.