Viewership for France’s big win over Wales peaked at 7.4 million domestically. (Julian Finney/Getty Images)

The 2025 edition of rugby union’s men’s Six Nations got off to a strong start over the weekend, with large viewership numbers in France and the UK.

The opening match on Friday night (January 31), in which France thumped Wales 43-0 on home soil, was watched by 6.7 million viewers domestically on France 2, the main channel of public-service broadcaster France Télévisions.

The viewership peaked at 7.4 million, delivering an audience share of 35.8%.

France 2 attracted a similar audience for the country’s Six Nations opener last year against Ireland, also on a Friday night, with 6.6 million viewers, albeit with a lower audience share of 32.1%.

France will face England in their second match at Twickenham Stadium in London on Saturday (February 8) and will again be aired on France 2.

France TV holds Six Nations rights through this campaign, via a three-season deal unveiled in May 2022.

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Meanwhile, in the UK, ITV’s coverage of England’s defeat to Ireland delivered the biggest overnight TV peak audience of the year so far for the commercial broadcaster.

Ireland’s 27-22 win was watched by a peak of 5.2 million across all devices.

The match averaged 3.6 million viewers, with the match itself averaging 4.4 million TV viewers on the main ITV1 channel.

Friday night’s opening fixture between France and Wales peaked with 3.8 million across all devices.

The two matches shown on ITV this past weekend were streamed 3.7 million times on the ITVX service.

ITV’s coverage of the Six Nations continues on Saturday with Italy vs Wales, followed by England vs France.

The broadcaster’s matches will air across ITV1, ITVX, STV, STV Player and UTV.

ITV’s huge viewing figures demonstrate the interest in the Six Nations on free-to-air television, as reports circulate that pay-TV broadcaster TNT Sports is looking to snap up the rights from next year.