The British & Irish Lions’ month-long South African tour continues and this weekend, the team will be playing its first Test against the Springboks and we have all the details on how you can watch it on TV or online.
The eight-game tour kicked off at the beginning of this month and so far the Lions have played five warm-up matches against four South African rugby teams including the Sigma Lions, Sharks, South Africa ‘A’ and the Stormers. Now though, the team is beginning the tour’s finale which will feature three Tests against the current world champions, the Springboks.
So far the Lions have won all but one of their warm-up matches in South Africa except for the match they played against the South Africa ‘A’ last week in which they lost 13-17. The Lions will certainly have their work cut out for them in today’s match as 11 out of the 15 players on the Springboks were present when the team defeated England in the 2019 World Cup final.
Today’s match will be held at Cape Town Stadium and rugby fans in the UK will be able to catch all the action on Sky Sports Main Event while fans in the U.S. can stream the entire match online via NBC’s streaming service Peacock.
Whether you’ve been closely following the British & Irish Lions’ 2021 South African tour or just want to tune in to see their first Test, we’ll show you exactly how to watch the British & Irish Lions vs the Springboks from anywhere in the world.
British & Irish Lions vs South Africa first Test – When and where?
The British & Irish Lions will go up against the South African Springboks in the first of three Tests on Saturday, July 24 at Cape Town Stadium. The match will be broadcast on NBC in the U.S. and on Sky Sports in the UK beginning at 5pm BST (12pm ET / 9am PT).
How to watch the British & Irish Lions vs South Africa first Test live in the UK
As Sky Sports is the official broadcaster for the Lions South African tour, rugby fans in the UK will be able to watch the British & Irish Lions take on the Springboks on Sky Sports Main Event at 5pm BST.
Don’t want to sign up for a lengthy Sky Sports contract just to watch the first Test this weekend, don’t worry as you can watch the entirety of the British & Irish Lions’ South African Tour on NOW TV with a Sky Sports Day Pass for £9.98 or a Sky Sports Two Month Pass for £25.99. NOW TV will also let you watch rugby online on your computer, smartphone, smart TV or other streaming devices.
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How to watch British & Irish Lions vs South Africa live stream in the U.S.
Rugby fans in the U.S. will be able to watch the British & Irish Lions first Test against the Springboks on NBC’s streaming service Peacock at 12pm ET / 9am PT. While Peacock does offer a free plan, you’ll need to sign up for Peacock Premium to watch today’s match. Peacock Premium costs $4.99 per month or $49.99 for the year though there is also an ad-free Peacock Premium plan available for $9.99 per month or $99.99 for the year.
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Peacock’s Premium plan includes access to watch the British & Irish Lions vs South Africa starting as low as $4.99 per month. There’s even a 7-day trial if you want to try it out and watch the games for free.
Live stream the British & Irish Lions vs South Africa first Test in Australia
If you live in Australia and want to watch the British & Irish Lions first Test against South Africa’s Springboks, then you’ll need to be a Stan Sport subscriber to do so. A subscription to Stan Sport costs an additional AUD$ 10 per month on top of a subscription to Stan which costs AUD$ 10 each month. Stan Sport will show today’s match quite early in the morning on Sunday at 4am AEST / 2am AWST so you may want to put some coffee on if you plan to watch it.
How to watch the British & Irish Lions’ South African tour live from anywhere
We have all the details on how you can watch the British & Irish Lions vs South Africa in the U.S., the UK and Australia further up in this guide. However, if you want to watch the first Test of the British & Irish Lions’ South African tour when you’re away from home, then you’ll run into problems as your domestic coverage online from abroad will likely be geo-blocked.
That’s where a VPN (Virtual Private Network) can really come in handy. They allow you to virtually change the IP address of your laptop, tablet or mobile to one that’s back in your home country which will let you watch as if you were back there.
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