Rugby Pro D2 always guarantees fierce battles despite being the shadow league breathing down Top 14’s neck. In fact, it is exactly because the Pro D2 clubs are battling for promotion into the top-tier league that its matches are always on the pitch.

Attracting major rugby players from the UK, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa, Pro D2 is mega-popular all over Europe and far beyond.

Ironically, the French Pro D2 is only available for streaming in Europe (or only in France, depending on your broadcaster). Blame it on copyright!

You see, broadcasters must buy a separate license for each sports event and each country where they want to stream it. For Pro D2, broadcasting companies mostly cover France (EU at best).

Even if you have a valid license with Canal+, you still get locked out of the Pro D2 championship the moment you leave France. The catch is broadcasters limit your access to their content based on your physical location regardless of where you buy your subscription. And your physical location is reflected in your Internet Protocol (IP) address.

The great news is there is a simple workaround – a VPN.

A Virtual Private Network is a service that allows you to change your IP address and pretend like you’re coming from France while you’re someplace else. With a French IP address, you can easily stream Rugby Pro D2.

Not only that – a VPN has a wealth of important benefits:

  • Privacy – by encrypting your traffic, a VPN hides your online activities from snooping Internet Service Providers, Google, Facebook, other data brokers, and surveillance agencies.
  • Security – with a VPN, hackers can’t intercept and decipher your traffic and steal your financial details or personal account credentials.
  • Freedom – browse the Internet unrestricted, bypass censorship firewalls, access dissident content, torrent, or stream Pro D2 wherever you are.

Finally, consider the legal consequences of crossing national borders on the Internet. Copyright trolls can punish you big time for streaming geo-restricted content. So a VPN with robust encryption and a watertight zero-logs policy is a must-have these days for any sports fan.

Three broadcasters have the license to stream Rugby Pro D2 – Eurosport, France 3, and Canal+Sport. Consequently, your MyCanal streaming platform is where you stream it online if you are a Canal+ subscriber. Why, you may even have the access to Rugby+!

In fact, the group Canal+ has acquired the rights to broadcast all French rugby matches until 2023 (cashing out €97 million per year!). So the platform offers comprehensive coverage of Pro D2 and Top 14, including its weekly digest the Rugby Club Canal airing every Sunday.

You can check the official site of the National Rugby League (LNR) for Pro D2 match details and where you can watch them.

To stream Rugby Pro D2, you need two things:

  • a valid subscription with one of the broadcasters, and
  • a French IP address (for Canal+ and France3) or an EU IP address (for Eurosport Player)

If the second condition is not met, you will see nothing but a black screen and a message saying “Sorry, this content is unavailable in your region.”

If you can not stream Pro D2 on MyCanal or Eurosport because you are outside of their covered regions, all you need is a VPN with servers in France (or Europe for Eurosport). By connecting to a French VPN server, you spoof into France and appear as if coming from France to your broadcaster.

  1. Subscribe to a VPN service with servers in France (see suggested providers below).
  2. Download and install a VPN program on your device.
  3. Log in using your VPN credentials provided by your VPN company.
  4. In your VPN program, choose a server based in France and connect to it.
  5. Launch a clean version of your favorite browser, with cache and DNS, cleaned from previous sessions.
  6. Open a new tab and go to your MyCanal, Eurosport Player, or France 3. You should be able to stream Pro D2 now.

You want to select a VPN that not only provides a good server coverage of France but also offers easy-to-use VPN software that supports your device’s operating system.

The following providers offer the best server coverage of Europe in general and France in particular. You can count on great speeds for streaming lag-free and compatibility with most operating systems, including routers.

A word of caution – think twice before using a free VPN. In most cases, providers offering free VPNs monitor your online activities and sell your data to patent trolls, data brokers, or worse, spy agencies. For more guidance on how to choose a VPN, please check out my short VPN Guide for Beginners.

ExpressVPN

Our top pick!
  • Always evades internet control in the PRC
  • Keeps ahead of the Netflix VPN detection algorithm
  • Benchmark tests show excellent speed

NordVPN

  • More US city locations than its rivals
  • Includes malware protection
  • No-logs policy

IPVanish

  • No limit on the number of devices you can connect at the same time
  • SOCKS5 proxy, which its main rivals don’t have
  • More VPN servers in more US cities to dodge blackouts