How to watch Six Nations 2021: Wales win their second title in three years
Wales may have missed out on the Grand Slam but are the 2021 Six Nations champions with four wins from their five games
Wales were crowned Six Nations champions for the second time in three years after Scotland beat France in the final game of the tournament.
France went into the postponed game at the Stade de France needing to beat the Scots by 20 points and pick up a bonus point in the process to overtake Wales and claim the title.
But a 27-23 defeat handed Wales the crown and left the French second in the table, a point better off than third-place Ireland and Scotland, who finished fourth.
England ended the tournament in fifth – their joint-worst finish and the second time they’ve finished there during the tenure of Eddie Jones.
And winning the wooden spoon for the sixth consecutive year were Italy, who failed to pick up a single point and conceded over 200 points in just five games.
How to watch the Six Nations: New broadcasting deal throws future free-to-air coverage into doubt
The Six Nations is one of the highlights of the international rugby calendar and the entire 2021 tournament was shown live on terrestrial television in the UK.
BBC and ITV shared the broadcasting rights for the competition, with every game available on free-to-air TV. But that may change in 2022 following an investment deal struck between the Six Nations and private equity firm CVC.
CVC has acquired 14% of the Six Nations’ commercial rights in a five-year deal worth £365m, making a change in broadcasting strategy highly likely.
A decision on how the tournament is televised going forward is expected soon and we’ll be updating this page once we get any further details regarding how to watch the Six Nations 2022 tournament.
How to watch Six Nations 2021: Final Standings
| Team | Won | Lost | Drawn | Bonus Points | Points |
| Wales | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 20 |
| Ireland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 16 |
| Ireland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 15 |
| Scotland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 15 |
| England | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| Italy | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
How to watch Six Nations 2021: Fixtures
Round 1
- Saturday, 6 Feb: France beat Italy 50-10
- Saturday, 6 Feb: Scotland beat England 11-6
- Sunday, 7 Feb: Wales beat Ireland 21-16
Round 2
- Saturday, 13 February: England beat Italy 41-18
- Saturday, 13 February: Wales beat Scotland 25-24
- Sunday, 14 February: France beat Ireland 15-13
Round 3
- Saturday, 27 February: Ireland beat Italy 48-10
- Saturday, 27 February: Wales beat England 40-24
- Sunday, 28 February: France vs Scotland POSTPONED
Round 4
- Saturday, 13 March: Wales beat Italy 48-7
- Saturday, 13 March: England beat France 23-20
- Saturday, 14 March: Ireland beat Scotland 27-24
Round 5
- Saturday, 20 March: Scotland beat Italy 52-10
- Saturday, 20 March: Ireland beat England 32-18
- Saturday, 20 March: France beat Wales 32-30
Round 3 (Rearranged fixture)
- Friday, 26 March: Scotland beat France 27-32
How to watch Six Nations 2021 for free in the UK: BBC Sport and ITV Sport
UK viewers can rejoice because the entire Six Nation 2021 will be broadcast on free-to-air channels BBC Sport and ITV Sport in the UK. Both channels are available in HD, and you can even live stream the rugby games for free via BBC iPlayer and ITV Hub. Games involving Wales will be televised on Welsh language channel S4C in addition to the English broadcast channel they’re being shown on.
To stream the aforementioned channels, you need to make sure you have a valid TV license, which costs £157.50 and can be purchased here.
How to watch Six Nations 2021 abroad: use a good VPN service
The Six Nations is a long tournament that spans five matchdays over seven weeks. If you’re away from the country during this time – or indeed want to watch Six Nations from abroad – then the only way you can do this is using a reliable VPN service. We highly recommend everyone use a VPN because it encrypts all your browsing activity from hackers and even from your own ISP who can otherwise see everything you do online.
READ NEXT: Best VPN services
ExpressVPN: Among all the VPNs we’ve reviewed, ExpressVPN is the best in terms of speed, security and ease of use. You can use it on five devices at the same time and there’s 24/7 customer support in case you need help connecting to a particular server from abroad. Our readers get a special 49% off when they choose the one year plan and there’s a 30-day moneyback guarantee if the service doesn’t guarantee what we promise.
Surfshark VPN: Surfshark VPN is our favourite budget VPN service. A single subscription covers unlimited devices and, like ExpressVPN, it’s been independently audited by a third-party company to prove that it doesn’t log or store any of your personal data. You can use it to block streaming services and watch Six Nations and other sporting events abroad.