Rugby is one of the most thrilling sporting events with several tournaments held every year from all around the world. Every year, different bodies organize top level international rugby tournaments including the USAsevens, IRBSevens, IRB Rugby World Cup (and qualifiers), Heineken Cup, Super Rugby, Australia’s National Rugby League, Amlin Challenge Cup, and RaboDirect PR012, among others.
Since these tournaments are held in different countries, it can be a bit challenging to follow them on cable or satellite TV. Fortunately, there are different places where you can watch live rugby online for free from anywhere in the world.
While there are many rugby themed sites on the internet, there are only a handful of sites that truly offer live rugby streaming. You can follow all sorts of rugby games online including the best NCAA match-ups on USArugby.org.
You can follow the World Cup Qualifiers on rugbyworldcup.com, and follow the NRL on NRL.com, though only the latter offers a digital pass for fans to watch live NRL online. There are a few other websites that offer live streaming of rugby events online, including the following:
IRBsevens.com
In the past, the HSBC has been broadcast on TV live, delayed-live, as well as via “IRB Sevens World”, but IRB intends to stream the 9 rounds of the HSBC Sevens World Series 2013/14 season live, for the first time, on www.irbsevens.com, in many countries where no broadcaster will be showing the live coverage.
IRB Live will also be broadcasting live a variety of its other tournaments. For instance, rugby fans in countries where there is no geo-blocking can watch the Women’s Sevens World Series on www.irb.com. Fans can also obtain the latest news and information on the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship and the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2014 on this site, and receive live coverage of the Rugby World Cup 2015 Qualifiers as the pool slots fill up.
There are many other places to watch rugby online including the following:
WatchESPN
WatchESPN covers a wide range of sports and offers live streaming and replays of multiple international matches and games via PC and mobile devices – using the WatchESPN app. ESPN is widely known as a global leader in the provision of live sports coverage and other original sports programming.
They use multiple servers to ensure that buffering times are faster than many other streams, which means that you can access live rugby streaming flawlessly. However, only users who receive ESPN as part of their TV subscription via participating TV providers can access the live streams on WatchESPN Networks, including ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN3, among others.
The WatchESPN online portal is a major player in the sports online streaming world as it is the best place to watch live college football games, live cricket matches and up to the minute soccer scores.
Stream2Watch
Stream2Watch.me provides users with an easy game location and quick streaming by offering uploads that have been taken directly from the satellite, bringing the action right to your PC screen. The platform also allows you to watch video streams later, open a game or match in a new window, and a variety of other capabilities.
Since it can be accessed from any location in the word, this site is particularly ideal for fans who travel a lot and want to stream rugby live. Additionally, it offers a user interface that is easy to navigate, allowing you to locate their frequent updates and services easily. However, the video feed is mostly standard with slow buffering times, especially during busy periods, plus users are required to sign up for an account to access extra features.
Other popular sports that you can access on stream2watch is real-time hockey games, basketball, tennis and live NFL games.
SportLEMON
This is a popular website that offers a wide variety of sports. For a free online resource, the SportLemon video feed is quite fast, allowing fans to enjoy a continuous stream of their favorite sport from the comfort of their home. The feed is provided in high resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio, with the option to view later.
There are just a few links to navigate through to watch rugby live on this site. First, go to sportlemon.tv or frombar.com (both redirect to the same landing page), and select rugby from the top menu. You will be provided with a list of upcoming rugby matches, so find the one you want to stream and enjoy. Popular games with high traffic tend to experience slow waiting times when buffering.
Sportlemon also stream a plethora of popular american sports like live NFL football games, MLB baseball and live UFC fights.
YouTube
This should probably be every fan’s first choice for streaming replays or video highlights because it is widely available, offers high definition clarity, and gives users full screen options, as well as the option to open games in a new window.
YouTube offers incredibly high quality videos, which makes it ideal for streaming rugby, so you can see the action clearly. To access rugby games including major events like the Rugby Union and the World Cup, simply search for the game you’d like to re-watch on the YouTube search bar.
The only drawbacks with YouTube are the videos may get taken down by moderators for copyright violations. Full length games are rare on this channel so try seeking an alternative viewing option.
Youtube is ideal for fans that are seeking to stream highlights of a particular match-up that was already aired. It’s not a channel that broadcast live sporting events like the other options mentioned in this article.
VIPBox
VIPBox.tv is a safe platform that offers free rugby streaming. It also offers a multitude of other sports like live streams to NBA basketball games. This platform is popular among sports fans who like to watch matches online because it has an easy user interface with friendly icons to identify the sports, which makes it very easy to navigate.
The pages also load very fast, allowing you to enjoy the NRL live stream. To find the game that you want to watch, simply go to the home page and select the rugby icon. You will be provided with a list of upcoming matches, so just select the link for the one you want to watch, and enjoy the rugby live stream for free.
LSHunter
This site offers a live streaming search engine whereby sports fans can manually for the particular game they want to stream. Depending on the keywords that you type in, you will be provided with a list of matching results, from where you can identify the game you want to watch. Alternatively, you can use the category options and drop down lists provided to find a particular sport event.
The appeal of LSHunter is mostly attributed to its ease of navigation using topics and the search bar, as well as its simple design and layout and availability of the support team for any inquiries. However, there is a limitation to the keywords that you can use to find accurate results of upcoming events due to the broad range of categories. In addition, there is usually a slight delay in coverage when live streaming rugby or other sports.
Laola1
Fans can also watch rugby games online on Laola1.tv. This website offers a wide range of sports coverage including live PGA golf, football, tennis, boxing, WWE Wrestling and many more, which makes it a great resource for fans who would like to catch live action of multiple sports events.
Laola1 is not very popular, which is advantageous to you because this means that buffering will not bother you much. The video feed can also be opened in a new window, in addition to full screen and download capabilities. On the downside, the video quality is mostly standard, and you need an account to access extra features on the site.