All the details on broadcasters and streams for the first match in the 2025 Six Nations

Watch France v Wales as the 2025 Six Nations kicks off with a bang in Paris on Friday night, with all the details here on TV broadcasts and live streams.

France are the Six Nations favourites in the eyes of many and they host a Wales side that enters the tournament on the back of a dreadful run of form.

France v Wales kicks off at 9.15pm CET / 8.15pm GMT on Friday and is available to watch for free in many countries, including the UK and France itself. Read on for RugbyWorld’s complete guide on how to watch France v Wales online, on TV, and from anywhere in the world.


Key information

– France v Wales date: Friday, January 31, 2025
– France v Wales kick-off time: 9.15pm local (CET) / 8.15pm GMT / 3.15pm ET / 5.15pm SAST / 7.15am AEDT
– France v Wales venue: Stade de France, Paris, France
– France v Wales on TV: ITV1, Virgin Media One, France 3
– France v Wales streams: ITVX (free), Virgin Media Play (free), FranceTV (free)
– Watch from anywhere: Try NordVPN 100% risk-free


How to watch France v Wales in the UK – Six Nations free live stream

Fans in the UK can watch Wales against France on Friday in the first game of 2025 Six Nations on ITV1 and ITVX.

Six Nations TV coverage in the UK is split between the BBC and ITV. Wales’ visit to France will be shown on free-to-air terrestrial television on ITV1, and online on ITV’s streaming platform, ITVX. You need to register to use ITVX but it’s free to use, although you still need to have a valid TV licence to watch live TV online.

Coverage starts at 7.30pm GMT ahead of the 8.15pm GMT kick-off.


How to watch France v Wales from abroad

What if you’re away from home when France v Wales is on? Most streaming services are geo-restricted, so if you’re outside your home country you’ll probably find your access is blocked, but that doesn’t mean you have to miss the game. A simple solution is out there in the form of a VPN.

A Virtual Private Network – to give it the full name – is a piece of software that lets you alter your device’s IP address to make it appear to be in a different country. That means you can unblock any geo-restricted feeds and enjoy your usual coverage from anywhere in the world. VPN’s are great for watching rugby on the move and theyre great for your internet security and privacy – so it’s a win-win.

Our expert office-mates at TechRadar, who have tested hundreds of VPNs, reckon the best is NordVPN, which handily comes with a huge discount just in time for the Six Nations.


How to watch France v Wales in Ireland

As in the UK, fans in Ireland can watch France v Wales in the Six Nations opener for free, along with every other game.

With the rights split between RTÉ and Virgin Media, this one goes out on Virgin Media One. Virgin Media One is available on free terrestrial television in Ireland. You can also stream France v Wales online with Virgin Media Play, which is available as a streaming app or simply an in-browser player with no sign-up required.

Coverage starts at 7.30pm ahead of the 8.15pm kick-off.


How to watch France v Wales in France

In France, all Six Nations games are free to watch with public broadcaster France Télévisions, including France v Wales on Friday January 31. The game will go out live on television on France 2, with a France v Wales live stream on the FranceTV platform, which is also free to use.

Coverage starts at 8.40pm CET ahead of the 9.15pm CET kick-off.


France v Wales: Other global streams

USA: Fans in the USA van watch Wales v France on Peacock. The NBC streaming platform costs $7.99 a month.
Australia: Stan Sport will show France v Wales in Australia. Plans start from $12 a month.
New Zealand: In New Zealand, Wales v France is on Sky Sport. A streaming sub costs $49.99 a month.
South Africa: Supersport is, as ever, the place to go for fans in South Africa to watch Wales v France.
Italy: Fans in Italy don’t get Wales v France for free but it is available on Sky Sports Italia.


France v Wales preview

Four years have passed since Wales lifted the Six Nations trophy, and they come into the 2025 tournament as a shadow of their former selves. It’s been quite the fall from grace, with a downturn in results spiralling into downfall and outright crisis. Last year, Wales finished rock-bottom, losing all five of their matches, including to the habitual wooden-spoon holders Italy.

They have not won a competitive fixture since, with their winless streak now standing at 12 games. To put that into context, 1937 was the last time they went through a calendar year without a win.

In the most recent 2024 Autumn Internationals they were beaten at home by Fiji before being humbled by Australia and South Africa. As such, pressure on head coach Warren Gatland, who oversaw such a successful and feel-good period for Welsh rugby, intensified at the end of the year. The Welsh Rugby Union has stood by Gatland for the Six Nations, but the federation itself has come under fire for its management of the sport in Wales and the development of a new generation to replace what’s starting to seem like a golden one.

Of the squad that won Wales’ last game, in the 2023 Rugby World Cup, only 15 players remain to take a place in the 34-man squad for the Six Nations. Stalwarts like Leigh Halfpenny, Dan Biggar, and Alun Wyn Jones retired after that World Cup, leaving a youthful squad scrambling to establish itself.

France, in complete contrast, are flying high. They missed out on the Six Nations trophy last year but they ooze confidence right now, not least after beating the All Blacks in the Autumn Internationals.

Antoine Dupont is the mega-star at the heart of the French side, and he’ll lead the team into battle as the captain. He’ll link up with the likes of Romain Ntamack and Thomas Ramos, and when you put together those sorts of players from Toulouse, the dominant force in club rugby right now, you already have a massively dangerous side.

France expect to be challenging for the title in a few weeks’ time, and nothing less than a win will realistically be good enough. For a team with this quality and this confidence, with a feverish home crowd under the lights on the opening night of the Six Nations… Wales start to seem a bit like lambs to the slaughter.

Coming up on Saturday:


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