Virgin Media to show every game of new Nations Championship

Virgin Media will show live coverage of every game of the new Nations Championship, which kicks off this July.

The Irish free-to-air broadcaster has announced it will air all 42 fixtures from each edition of the fresh international rugby tournament in 2026 and 2028.

Ireland will play seven games each year.

The tournament will replace the summer and autumn internationals every two years. It will include the Six Nations sides, along with New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Argentina, Japan, and Fiji.

There will be two groups of teams competing in a Northern versus Southern Hemisphere tournament format to be played across six rounds, with three fixtures in July and again in November.

Ireland will face Australia, Japan, and New Zealand in the summer, and will be at home to Argentina, Fiji, and South Africa in November.

It will finish with a finals weekend in November.

Outside of a Nations Championship year, Virgin Media will also broadcast fixtures from the Summer Nations Series, as teams prepare for Rugby World Cup 2027, as well as the Autumn Nations Series.

The news comes as Ireland takes on France in Paris in the opening round of the Six Nations on Thursday night.