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The world’s best rugby nations have descended in France for the 2023 Rugby World Cup. Held once every four years, the tournament features 20 countries competing for the Webb Ellis Cup, named after William Webb Ellis, who is credited as the inventor of modern rugby.
Want to watch the Rugby World Cup? Here’s what you need to know.
Rugby World Cup 2023: Dates, Times
The 2023 Rugby World Cup kicked off on September 8 and runs through October 28. Teams are divided into four pools and will play each other in a round-robin format, with the top two teams advancing to the knockout stage.
With the matches all taking place in France, the start times will vary here in the U.S., though most of the matches will begin at either 6 a.m. PT/9 a.m. ET; 8:45 a.m. PT/11:45 a.m. ET; or 12 p.m. PT/3p.m. ET.
How to Watch the Rugby World Cup 2023
If you want to watch the Rugby World Cup on TV, select matches are being broadcast in the U.S. on CNBC and NBC. A cable provider like DIRECTV includes both NBC and CNBC in its channel offerings, to let you watch the Rugby World Cup on TV.
Want to watch the Rugby World Cup without cable? Your best option is to sign up for Peacock, which is showing every match live. Peacock is the official U.S. broadcast partner for the 2023 Rugby World Cup and the streaming service lets you livestream all the matches online from your phone, computer or smart TV.
A Peacock subscription starts at just $5.99 a month and gets you instant access to stream the Rugby World Cup live online, in addition to thousands of hours of on-demand sports and entertainment. Sign up for Peacock here.
Rugby World Cup 2023 Livestream: How to Watch Online Free
While Peacock offers a free tier, you’ll need a Peacock Premium or Premium Plus account to watch the rugby matches online. Note: Reddit will have free Rugby World Cup live feeds listed but the only official feed is through Peacock.
Want to livestream the Rugby World Cup online free? Your best bet is to get a VPN like NordVPN and use it to watch the Rugby World Cup through the UK’s ITV player. NordVPN has a 30-day free trial that you can access to stream the rugby matches online using the UK as your location.
DIRECTV’s streaming service, DIRECTV Stream, meantime, offers a five-day free trial that you can use to watch the Rugby World Cup on NBC and CNBC for free. Keep in mind though, that not all the games will be shown on NBC and CNBC. To watch the entire schedule of matches, you’ll want to sign up for Peacock.
South Africa is the defending champion at the Rugby World Cup, having defeated England in the 2019 tournament final. While both teams are back in action at the 2023 tournament, oddsmakers have New Zealand and France as the joint 3/1 favorites for this year’s edition. New Zealand have won the World Cup three times, while hosts France will be looking for their first title.
The U.S. did not qualify for this year’s tournament, having been eliminated in qualifying play.
