Where to Watch Australia vs New Zealand Rugby Championship 2020 in US

The 2020 Rugby Championship–otherwise known as 2020 Tri Nations after the withdrawal of South Africa–begins on Saturday with an anticipated showdown between Australia and New Zealand.

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In the United States, the match (4:45 a.m. ET) won’t be on TV anywhere, but anyone in the US can watch all six 2020 Tri Nations matches live on ESPN+:

Get ESPN+

ESPN+ has live coverage of every 2020 Tri Nations fixture, as well as international soccer (FA Cup, Carabao Cup, UEFA Nations League, EFL, Bundesliga, Serie A, MLS, etc), UFC and other live sports. It also includes every 30-for-30 documentary and additional original content (both video and written) all for $5.99 per month.

Or, if you also want Disney+ and Hulu, you can get all three for $12.99 per month, which works out to about 31 percent savings:

Get the ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu Bundle

Once signed up for ESPN+, you can watch Australia vs New Zealand rugby live on the ESPN app on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via ESPN.com.

Australia vs New Zealand Tri Nations 2020 Preview

The Tri Nations tournament is a bit of an improvisation after South Africa — the defending champions of The Rugby Championship — withdrew. That left Argentina, Australia and New Zealand to battle in the Tri-Nations Tournament, which  played over six weekends, wrapping up in early December if all goes right. Here is the full schedule of games:

• October 31: Australia v New Zealand
• November 7: Australia v New Zealand
• November 14: New Zealand v Argentina
• November 21: Argentina v Australia
• November 28: Argentina v New Zealand
• December 5: Australia v Argentina

Noah Lolesio and Irae Simone will be making their test — or international match — debut against New Zealand.

“They’re a couple of guys who have played a lot of footy together,” Australia coach Dave Rennie said. “[Simone] has been excellent. He’s a great communicator.

“We felt we missed some opportunities at Eden Park just through a lack of talk and he’s really strong with and without the ball, in regards to his communication.”

The All Blacks expect the two debutants to be prepared for the important matchup

“You chuck that Wallabies jersey on and you go out there to put your best foot forward,” All Blacks captain Sam Cane said. “I think most people who make a debut have a pretty good game because it is the realization of a dream.”

The game is also doubling as a Bledisloe Cup series game. The series has been contested between New Zealand and Australia since the 1930s.

The sides drew 16-16 in their first meeting, and New Zealand won the last matchup 27-7. Australia needs a win to keep their chances alive.

“We know it will be a massive effort from the Wallabies this week,” says All Blacks coach Ian Foster. “It’s a do or die for them and that’s the way they will see it. The key thing for us is that we have to make it a do or die thing for us too.”

Cane admits that it’s very much a battle of adjustments, facing off for the third time this month.

“It’s the adjustments you’ll make from week to week, the improvements you can make in your game, the improvements the opposition can make and it’s pretty much a battle of who can get better the quickest,” Cane said. “Obviously the first one was pretty tight. I thought we were heaps better in that second game and the Aussies will probably admit they weren’t quite as sharp. It will be all on the line tomorrow.”