Fans in Ireland, the UK, France and the US can all enjoy this this weekend’s Nations Championship action for free:

• Ireland: Rugby fans in Ireland can watch Japan v Ireland for free on Virgin Media Play and terrestrial channel Virgin Media One. Pre-match build-up starts at 10.50am IST, with the game getting underway at 11.10am.
• United Kingdom: Japan v Ireland is available on both terrestrial channel ITV1 and the ITVX streaming service. Both options are free to use but remember that you need a current TV Licence to watch/stream live television in the UK. ITV coverage starts at 10.40am BST ahead of the 11.10am kick-off.
• France: Japan v Ireland live streams are available for free on both the TF1+ streaming service and broadcast channel TMC. Coverage starts at 12.00pm CET, with kick-off at 12.10pm.
• United States: In the US you can watch Japan v Ireland, along with all the Nations Championship games, on World Rugby’s RugbyPass TV. It’s free to use, though you do need to register before you can start streaming the action. Kick-off is at 6.10am EDT/3.10am PDT on Saturday morning.

Travelling overseas this weekend? Residents of the UK, Ireland, France and the US can still watch their usual free streaming service with the help of a good VPN. Keep reading to find out more…

Other Japan v Ireland live streams around the world

• Australia: The game is taking place in New South Wales and if you’re down under, Stan Sport is the place to go for Japan v Ireland live streams. You’ll need a $20 per month Stan Sport plan (in addition to your base Stan subscription, which starts at $12) to tune in. The game kicks off at 8.10pm AEST this evening.
• South Africa: SuperSport will be your destination for Japan v Ireland live streams in South Africa, and is available via DStv and streaming. The match gets underway at 12.10pm SAST this afternoon.
• New Zealand: In New Zealand, Japan v Ireland is on Sky Sport, which costs $54.99 per month for a streaming subscription ($29.99 day options are also available). Kick-off is 10.10pm NZST tonight.

Japan v Ireland match preview

Japan are technically the home side today, though the fact the game’s being playing in Newcastle, New South Wales, suggests this might have the feel of a neutral match. Still, the Brave Blossoms’ Aussie coach Eddie Jones should feel right at home, especially as his four-match suspension (punishment for abusing match officials during an under-23 tour of Australia) has now ended.

Japan got their Nations Championship campaign off to an impressive start, running out 27-10 winners over Italy in Tokyo. Jones has, unsurprisingly, kept faith with most of the side from last weekend, the only change being Taira Main coming in for Kippei Ishida on the left wing. Twenty-one-year-old university student Ryunosuke Ito continues at fly-half after making a memorable debut against the Azzurri.

Andy Farrell, Jones’ opposite number, has taken the opportunity to experiment, including four uncapped players in his 23 – most notably, Connacht’s Sean Jansen gets a start at number 8. There’s an all-new half-back pairing of Ciaran Frawley and Craig Casey, while Robbie Henshaw, Jimmy O’Brien and Jacob Stockdale are selected at centre and wing, respectively. There are four further changes up front, where Rónan Kelleher, Thomas Clarkson, Nick Timoney and captain Tadhg Beirne are all selected.

Japan v Ireland line-ups and officials

Japan

15. Takuro Matsunaga
14. Kazuma Ueda
13. Dylan Riley
12. Yuya Hirose
11. Taira Main
10. Ryunosuke Ito
9. Naoto Saito

1. Takato Okabe
2. Mamoru Harada
3. Shuhei Takeuchi
4. Harry Hockings
5. Warner Dearns (captain)
6. Ben Gunter
7. Kanji Shimokawa
8. Jack Cornelsen

Replacements:
16. Hayate Era
17. Sojiro Otsuka
18. Keijiro Tamefusa
19. Michael Stolberg
20. Michael Leitch
21. Tiennan Costley
22. Itsuki Kamimura
23. Sam Greene

Ireland

15. Jamie Osborne
14. Jimmy O’Brien
13. Robbie Henshaw
12. Stuart McCloskey
11. Jacob Stockdale
10. Ciaran Frawley
9. Craig Casey

1. Tom O’Toole
2. Rónan Kelleher
3. Thomas Clarkson
4. Tadhg Beirne (captain)
5. James Ryan
6. Jack Conan
7. Nick Timoney
8. Sean Jansen

Replacements:
16. Tom Stewart
17. Billy Bohan
18. Sam Illo
19. Cormac Izuchukwu
20. Bryn Ward
21. Nathan Doak
22. Harry Byrne
23. Bundee Aki

Andrea Piardi of Italy takes charge of Japan v Italy, assisted by Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand) and Morné Ferreira (South Africa. The TMO is Matteo Liperini (Italy).