The highly anticipated “Crunch†between the France national rugby union team and the England national rugby union team during the 2026 Six Nations Championship delivered blockbuster television ratings for France Télévisions.
Broadcast on France 2, the match attracted 8.02 million viewers on Saturday evening, representing 42.5% audience share across the general public and 43.8% among women under 50 responsible for household purchases, according to audience data reported by Ozap.
The figure marked a clear increase compared to France’s previous Six Nations prime-time match on February 5, which drew 7.24 million viewers and a 39% audience share.
Thanks largely to the rugby broadcast, France 2 dominated the day’s television rankings with 23.7% market share, comfortably ahead of TF1 (17.6%), France 3 (8.4%) and M6 (5.3%).
Rugby Dominates French TV Night
While rugby captured the spotlight, competing broadcasters trailed significantly in the ratings.
A rerun of the TV series Cassandre on France 3 finished second for the evening with 2.84 million viewers and a 14.7% audience share. Meanwhile, the latest blind audition episode of The Voice on TF1 attracted 2.63 million viewers and a 13.2% share, down from 3.01 million viewers the week prior.
France Retains Six Nations Title
On the field at the Stade de France, the drama matched the ratings success. France edged England 48–46 in a thrilling encounter to secure the 2026 Six Nations title.
Led by captain Antoine Dupont and rising star Louis Bielle-Biarrey, the French side coached by Fabien Galthié retained the championship after one of the most spectacular matches of the tournament.