6 Nations Rugby live on American TV!

[Jack]

So I know this message is of limited appeal, but I also know there are a few other rugby fanatics out there and I wanted to share the very exciting news I learned last night - BBC America is showing a live 6 Nations game of the week. This week you get England v. Wales at noon EST (something to watch if the Hoyas get canceled - otherwise DVR away).

For those of us who have been forced to pay $20 just to watch a live match at a pub, this is a dream come true. Granted I will still have to pay the pub to watch this week's Ireland-Italy match, but the schedule includes almost all of the key contests, and all on a channel that I receive as part of my (admittedly very expensive) cable package. Apparently this was announced a few weeks ago, but yesterday was the first I heard of it.

For those interested in watching for the first time, the 6 Nations is the oldest international rugby tournament in the world, contested annually in a round-robin among England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, and Italy. The tournament started out as just the 4 home nations, added France 100 years ago, and Italy just 10 years ago. Ireland are the defending champs, coming off their first grand slam (winning all matches) since 1948. This year's competition is wide open, with France installed as slight favorites and Ireland, England, and Wales all thought to have a chance to take home the hardware.

Full BBC America schedule here: www.bbcamerica.com/content/394/match-schedule.jsp

[hifigator]

Now all I need to do is move to a Country that shows BBC. Ok, well, at least a state that does.

[BSM]

With Fox taking over Setanta's US operation, there's a chance that the rest of the Six Nations will go back on cable tv, but not this season. Fox already announced that they're going to put more EPL and FA Cup games on the Fox Soccer Channel.

[Jack]

Yeah, Fox Sports World used to show some rugby (tape delayed or club matches) before it was became Fox Soccer Channel, but live 6 Nations has been a closed-circuit/pay-per-view deal for practically as long as it has been shown in the US, or certainly as long as I have been watching (which goes back to the late 90's at Flanagan's in Bethesda). I don't claim rugby would get as big as soccer in the US, but it is absolutely crippling to its growth that the best matches cannot be seen by anyone other than the converted. Spike TV (I think) was able to show some tape-delayed matches from the 2007 Rugby World Cup, I can only hope the death of Setanta US (and perhaps the addition of 7s to the Olympics) will open up more opportunity to show more rugby on one of the hundreds of channels on my cable system.

[The Stig]

Anybody know a good place to watch the Tri Nations?