Netflix has announced a first move into covering rugby union, with a documentary series covering the upcoming Six Nations, but, surprisingly, it will not be shown before this autumn’s World Cup and will instead go out next year.
Seeking to follow up on the success of Netflix’s Formula One series Drive to Survive, Netflix will cover all of the action from this year’s Six Nations with behind-the-scenes access to all the teams involved. The Tournament begins on February 4 when Wales host Ireland and England take on Scotland.
But the launch date will raise eyebrows because Netflix will miss the opportunity to cash in on a massive rugby audience on the eve of the World Cup in France.
“That’s right – rugby’s getting in on the act!” Netflix announced on social media.
The Six Nations series will be part of a number of new documentaries set to be released by Netflix this year and next, including the tennis series Break Point, the golf documentary Full Swing which is following the PGA Tour, a currently untitled Fifa World Cup retrospective on the Qatar tournament as well as a docuseries covering this year’s Tour de France. Netflix will also Heart of Invictus, a series from Archewell Productions, covering the journeys of athletes to participate in the Invictus Games – the competition which supports the recovery of wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans.
“This eclectic group of new and returning series reinforces that we are committed to delivering the best sports stories to our fans,” Brandon Riegg, vice president of unscripted and documentary series at Netflix said.
“By going behind-the-scenes of the world’s biggest sporting events with unprecedented access, we have a unique opportunity to share the triumphs, tribulations and drama of these iconic moments with our hundreds of millions of global members.”
Recent successful docuseries around rugby union have included Chasing the Sun, which covered South Africa’s Rugby World Cup success in 2019 produced by SuperSport in South Africa, and the All or Nothing series which followed the All Blacks made by Amazon Prime.
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