One of the first major match-ups of the Rugby World Cup 2023 is the South Africa v Scotland game, pairing up these two top-tier rugby teams in one of the fiercest meetings of the group stages on Sunday, September 6.
US: NBC (live TV services) | Peacock
UK: ITV | ITVX (free with license fee)
AU: Stan Sport | 9Now (free)
How to use a VPN to watch any stream
The Rugby World Cup South Africa v Scotland game is streaming for free in the UK on ITVX and Australia on 9Now. But don't worry if you're away on holiday while it's on, because you can watch the Rugby World Cup live streams on ITVX or 9Now from anywhere with a VPN.
At the time of writing, South Africa is the second best-rated rugby team in the world, while Scotland is the fifth, so these two teams are very closely rated and anything could happen.
Making this game more tense is that both teams are in the same group as Ireland, the top-ranked Rugby team. With only two teams progressing from the stage, a win in this South Africa v Scotland game could give either team a much better chance at progressing in the tournament.
If you're a keen Rugby fan who wants to catch even more of the matches or just someone who likes to be prepared, then you probably want to know how to watch the Rugby World Cup 2023 games, and we've got all the details on that below.
How to watch South Africa vs Scotland in the UK
If you want to use broadcast TV to watch the South Africa v Scotland game, you'll need to tune into ITV1. The game itself begins at 4:45 but ITV will be starting its early coverage 50 minutes prior.
If you'd rather stream the game online, you can use ITVX, as ITV's streaming service has an option to let you watch its channels online. Here's our guide on how to watch live TV on ITVX, to make it easy for you, as we'll run through the methods on various different devices.
ITV1 and ITVX are free to watch for license fee payers. If you're trying to access iPlayer while outside the UK, you might want to try a VPN to allow you to watch from abroad.
How to watch South Africa vs Scotland in Australia
Normally, you'd need to use Stan Sport to watch the Rugby World Cup games, but for every Wallabies game (like this one), there's another option. That's because 9Network shows all Wallabies games for free, and you can use 9Now to stream online if you'd prefer. Put your credit card away!
Unfortunately, the South Africa v Scotland game starts at 1:45 am, so whatever money you save on streaming options will need to go to coffee or energy drinks instead.
How to watch South Africa vs Scotland in the US
The South Africa v Scotland game airs in the US at 11:45 am ET/8:45 am PT, and there are two ways to watch it.
Firstly, on cable you can watch the game on CNBC, with coverage starting 15 minutes prior. Cord-cutters can use Hulu with Live TV, Fubo, Sling TV (with the News Extra add-on), DirecTV Stream or YouTube TV to get the channel, with most of the best live TV streaming services offering it.
Alternatively, you can sign in to Peacock to catch the game, which will be a cheaper option than signing up to a TV service. Peacock starts at $5.99 per month for ad-enabled streaming or $11.99 for ad-free, and it's showing all of the Rugby World Cup games too.
How to watch South Africa v Scotland from anywhere with a VPN
You can watch the Rugby World Cup on any of the streaming services above by using a VPN – no matter where you are in the world!
Normally a streaming service will know where you are trying to tune in from and block you if you're not in the right country but a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is an app that hides your location. That means you can access your usual sports and entertainment services even while you're traveling abroad.
Our favorite VPN is ExpressVPN, which is the No. 1-rated VPN in the world right now according to our sister site, TechRadar.
How to use a VPN to watch any stream
- Download the app at ExpressVPN
- Choose the location of the streaming service you want to watch (UK, US, etc)
- Navigate to the streaming service and start watching!
What time is kick-off?
The Scotland v South Africa game starts at 5:45 pm CET (the local time of the tournament in France). That converts to 4:45 pm in the UK, 1:45 am in Australia, 11:45 am on the US East Coast and 8:45 am on the US West Coast.
