Nations Championship: ITV pauses scrum adverts during July Tests

England and South Africa, who have not met since 2024, play each other as part of Saturday's opening round of the Nations Championship

In-play, in-picture adverts will not be part of ITV's coverage of the Nations Championship in July, but the 20-second slots, shown before a scrum, are set to return for the November Tests and next year's Six Nations.

The abundance of opportunities in ITV's schedule in July, with an expanded 48-team football World Cup dominating the airwaves, means advertisers' spending has been directed elsewhere.

During their debut at this year's Six Nations, the scrum slots, one of which was available per half, were bought up by blue-chip companies such as Samsung and Virgin Atlantic.

During the segments, audio from the stadium dipped, the screen was split in half and an advert was played in the right-hand part of the screen. Some viewers criticised the concept as intrusive.

Six Nations chief executive Tom Harrison said the adverts may be "a little bit uncomfortable" for viewers in the UK who, unlike those in the US and Australia, are only used to adverts appearing around, rather than during, play.

The Nations Championship pits the northern hemisphere teams who compete in the Six Nations - England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France and Italy - against southern hemisphere sides South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina, plus invited sides Fiji and Japan.

It starts on Saturday with six games, with a further six on 11 July and 18 July before concluding in November.

ITV, which has not taken up the option to show commercials during the newly introduced hydration breaks at the football World Cup, said adverts help keep the Six Nations on free-to-air television.

The broadcaster, which shares the UK rights with BBC Sport as part of a four-year deal which runs until the end of the 2029 tournament, described advertising as "a key means of compensating for this spending".

ITV has committed heavily to Test rugby, signing a deal to show every match in the 2026 and 2028 Nations Championship.

While a UK broadcaster is yet to be announced for the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia, ITV has won the rights to the previous 10 editions.

ITV will show the opening match of next year's Six Nations - Ireland v England in Dublin - on 5 February.