British & Irish Lions vs Stormers live stream — how to watch for free

British & Irish Lions vs Stormers live stream — Faf de Klerk of South Africa A and Tom Curry of the British & Irish Lions at Cape Town Stadium, South Africa, on July 14, 2021.
(Image credit: David Rogers/Getty Images)
British & Irish Lions vs Stormers: time, date, channel

The British & Irish Lions vs Stormers game starts today (Saturday, July 17) at 5 p.m. BST / 12 p.m. ET / 9 a.m. PT.
• U.S. — Watch on NBC, Peacock or Sling
• U.K. — Watch on Sky Sports
• Watch anywhere — try ExpressVPN 100% risk free

The British & Irish Lions vs Stormers live stream today (July 17) will bring us the Lions' final warm-up game before they take on the mighty South Africa in the first of three test matches.

And there's a lot riding on it, too: the Lions will want to get back into winning ways after they were beaten 17-13 by South Africa A on Wednesday (July 14), and several squad members will want to prove they should start in the first test next Saturday (July 24). In fact, Lions attack coach Gregor Townsend went as far as to say the Stormers game was "the last chance for players to put their hands up."

We already know who'll be starting the game, with coach Warren Gatland having announced the line-up already. Ireland centre Robbie Henshaw is back from injury, while Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones is on the bench after an astonishing 18-day recovery from a dislocated shoulder.

British and Irish Lions: Hogg (capt); Adams, Daly, Henshaw, Van der Merwe; Smith, Price, Sutherland, Cowan-Dickie, Furlong, Beard, Hill, Beirne, H Watson, Conan

Replacements: George, Vunipola, Fagerson, AW Jones, Simmonds, Davies, Harris, Rees-Zammit

Stormers will be missing the eight players who are in the full Springboks squad for the test series, including the likes of Pieter-Steph Du Toit and Bongi Mbonambi, but they still have plenty of talent left.

Edwill Van Der Merwe, for instance, was the top try-scorer in the Rainbow Cup, while Tim Swiel and Evan Roos should also be a threat.

There's no such thing as a 'friendly' match in top-level rugby union, and we're certain to see both teams throwing their all into the game, which starts at 5 p.m. BST (12 p.m. ET) today. 

That should make it a must-watch sporting event — and the good news is you can enjoy it all wherever you are in the world. Here's how to watch the British & Irish Lions vs Stormers live stream.

How to watch the British & Irish Lions vs Stormers live stream from outside your country

It's natural that you might want to watch the British & Irish Lions vs Stormers from your home country, but what if you're not there when the game is on?

Look no further than a VPN, or virtual private network. A VPN makes it look as if you're surfing the web from your home country, rather than the one you're in. That means you can access the streaming services you already pay for, from anywhere on Earth. Or anywhere that has an internet connection, at least.

For instance, a Brit who's currently in the U.S. could watch the British & Irish Lions vs Stormers on Sky Sports, even though they're not in the U.K. 

They're totally legal, inexpensive and easy to use. We've tested lots of the best VPN services and our favorite right now is ExpressVPN. It's fast, works on loads of devices and even offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. 

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Speed, security and simplicity make ExpressVPN our favorite VPN service. In our testing, we were impressed by its fast connection times and by its ability to access more than 3,000 services in 160 locations across 94 countries. Plus, there's a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Using a VPN is incredibly simple.

1. Install the VPN of your choice. As we've said, ExpressVPN is our favorite.

2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN app. For instance if you're in the U.S. and want to view a U.K. service, you'd select U.K. from the list.

3. Sit back and enjoy the action. Head to Sky Sports or another website and watch the game.

How to watch the British & Irish Lions vs Stormers live stream in the US

how to watch British & Irish Lions vs Stormers live stream — US flag

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Rugby Union fans in the U.S. can watch the British & Irish Lions vs Stormers live stream — and the upcoming three test matches against South Africa — on NBC's family of networks and their affiliated streaming service Peacock. It's at 12 p.m. ET / 9 a.m. PT on July 17.

If you've cut the cord and don't get NBC or NBC SN through your cable package, you can access those channels through Sling TV and Fubo TV, two of the picks on our best streaming services list. 

If you're usually based in the U.K. and have a valid TV licence, but you're in the U.S. at the moment, you can watch the British & Irish Lions vs Stormers live stream for free by using a VPN such as ExpressVPN to access Sky Sports online.

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Peacock boasts a great library, including the entirety of The Office. It's also home to a ton of sports beyond the Olympics, like WWE wrestling, the Premier League, golf and rugby. Peacock Free costs nothing, while the Premium tiers offer access to originals and more movies.

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Sling TV offers two packages, both priced at $35/month. The Sling Blue plan comes with 30-plus channels and includes NBC and NBC SN. Sling is currently offering $25 dollars off the first month.

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If you love sports, check out Fubo.TV. It's got a 7-day free trial so you don't need to pay up front and has dozens of sports channels, with NBC and NBC SN among them. 

How to watch the British & Irish Lions vs Stormers live stream in the UK

how to watch British & Irish Lions vs Stormers live stream — British flag

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Sky Sports is the home of the Lions tour in the U.K., so rugby fans should point their remotes to the pay-TV service to catch the British & Irish Lions vs Stormers live stream. The game starts at 5 p.m. BST, but coverage begins at 4 p.m. so you can get in the mood and catch up with all of the news from the Lions camp. 

If you can cope with not watching it live, Channel 4 will be showing highlights later in the day, which means it'll also be available via its All 4 online portal.   

If you're not in the U.K. but have a valid U.K. TV licence, you can still follow the Lions tour game by using one of the best VPN services, such as ExpressVPN

How to watch the British & Irish Lions vs Stormers live stream in South Africa

British & Irish Lions vs Stormers live stream — South African flag

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

The Lions tour will obviously be big news in the rugby-mad host nation, and the British & Irish Lions vs Stormers live stream will be shown exclusively on subscription service SuperSport. 

That means you can also tune in via the network's streaming service for PC and Mac, and via its dedicated smartphone app for iOS and Android.

Not at home but want to follow the game on SuperSport as if you were? A VPN such as ExpressVPN could be the answer.

How to watch the British & Irish Lions vs Stormers live stream in Australia

How to watch British & Irish Lions vs Stormers live stream — Australia flag

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Streaming service Stan will be showing every Lions game in Australia, which means Aussies can watch the British & Irish Lions vs Stormers live stream via its new Stan Sports platform.

If you're not currently in Australia, you can use a VPN such as ExpressVPN to watch all the action on your Stan account, just like if you were back home. Just bear in mind either way that the time difference isn't helpful to Aussie rugby fans — the game begins at 4 a.m. AEST.

how to watch British & Irish Lions vs Stormers live stream — VPN statement

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Marc McLaren

Formerly Editor in Chief (U.K.) on Tom’s Guide, Marc oversaw all gaming, streaming, audio, TV, entertainment, how-to and cameras coverage, and was also responsible for the site’s U.K.-focused output. He is now U.K. Editor in Chief on TechRadar. Marc previously edited the tech website Stuff and has tested and written about phones, tablets, wearables, streaming boxes, smart home devices, Bluetooth speakers, headphones, games, TVs, cameras and much more. He also spent years on a music magazine, where his duties mainly involved spoiling other people’s fun, and on a car magazine. An avid photographer, he likes nothing better than taking pictures of very small things (bugs, his daughters) or very big things (distant galaxies). When he gets time, he also enjoys gaming (console and mobile), cycling and attempting to watch as much sport as any human can. He's also fallen in love with Wordle over the past six months and is the author of our today's Wordle answer column, in which he supplies hints and strategy tips for the mega-popular word game. Given he's completed every single Wordle so far and only lost once, and analyzed every Wordle answer in search of patterns, he's well qualified to help you safeguard your streak.

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