RTE and Virgin Media have teamed up for the first time to air the 2022 Six Nations.
Starting on February 4, with Ireland U-20's taking on France, coverage includes all matches from Ireland Men's, Women's and U-20s tournaments.
The partnership by both stations is said to have been made for sports fans to enjoy “free to air” coverage.
The alliance will see all matches in the Guinness Six Nations equally aired across both broadcasters, showcasing the agonies and ecstasies of Rugby’s Greatest Championship. Ireland open the 2022 edition of the Championship on February 5 against reigning champions, Wales. Then on 26 March the Women's Six Nations begins with current title holders England taking on their age-old rivals Scotland.
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 said: “This unique partnership puts sport and rugby fans first and we’re delighted that this historic agreement ensures that the Six Nations Rugby, across Men’s, Women’s and Under 20s 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 8pm 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.
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 station.
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