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Maro Itoje leads England into what could be the final Six Nations shown on terrestrial television with a call to organisers to prioritise the game’s reach when considering the next broadcast deal.
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The BBC and ITV have shared the TV rights since 2016, but their contract ends after the current tournament and TNT Sports has confirmed it is considering bidding for 2026 onwards.
For the first time the game’s biggest draw outside the World Cup faces the prospect of going behind a paywall, but Itoje insists it must remain free-to-air.
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“The Six Nations should be viewed by as many people as possible,” said the England captain ahead of Saturday’s clash with Ireland in Dublin.
“I grew up watching the Six Nations on the BBC and on ITV. The fact that it’s been on free-to-air…I think rugby needs more eyes on it, not less.
“Obviously I’m not involved in the finances of the deals, but even though international rugby is massive, the sport should be looking at ways to be more accessible to more people, as opposed to the opposite.”
Saturday’s Aviva Stadium showdown promises to be a blockbuster start to the rivals’ title bids, with the outcome setting the tone for the remainder of their campaigns.
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Ireland enter as strong favourites and are out for revenge after they were edged 23-22 in dramatic circumstances at Allianz Stadium last year. Few are backing England to cause an upset, but Itoje insists that only adds to the motivation.
“When people write you off it always gets the juices flowing a little bit, whether that’s in sport or when my teachers predicted me to get lower grades than I eventually got!” Itoje said.
“It always gives you a little bit of extra motivation and a bit more anticipation for what you can do and what you can achieve.
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“You definitely have to give Ireland respect. You see their strength and acknowledge where they are good.
“But when you play any team, you don’t put them on a pedestal. We believe in our team, we believe in what we can do. It’s just our job to go and do it.”
England enter the Six Nations on the back of a poor 2024 which produced only five wins in 12 Tests, although on three occasions they fell to late defeats to New Zealand, while also losing narrowly to France and Australia.
“What last year has shown us is that, despite the results not going our way, if you were to watch the games, most people would see the potential of the team,” Itoje said.
“As players, we believe in what we’re doing, we believe in what we’re about and now our part of the bargain is to get over the line.
“We put ourselves in positions to win most, if not all of the games, but for varying reasons we didn’t.
“Ultimately we didn’t take our opportunity when it arose. Our job is to make sure that when those moments come, we take them.
“In games you have a finite amount of chances. If you don’t take your chances then you’re not going to win.”
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Just a thought: how likely is it for a person to become a rugby fan if they are not into sports anyway? And if they are into sports, aren't they already paying for a TV package that includes sports channels?
Rugby struggles to win fans in Scotland and England. We've even seen English and European Champions Wasps go bust because their crowds dwindled during the cost of living crisis. Putting the six nations behind a pay wall will reduce the chance of people becoming fans and push existing fans to look elsewhere. The huge variety of sports compete for people's time and money so rugby cannot afford make it even harder to watch matches.
I watched France v Wales tonight, but I could have easily watched the Furiosa Mad Max movie which premiered on Sky Premiere tonight. To be honest I can guess that the Mad Max movie was probably more entertaining than watching France trouce Wales. Which one would you pay for?
So, Maro, you'd take a pay cut for rugby to remain on terrestrial TV? Nah, thought not.
Bizarre reaction : this is not how it works. Players make the game nice and entertaining, blaming them for an aspect that is 100% dependent on the business side of things makes little sense, imo.