Take two! The tourists face the Sharks for the second time in four days
Sharks v Lions live stream: How to watch the British & Irish tourists
The Sharks take on the British & Irish Lions 2021 squad for the second time in four days on Saturday evening (kick-off 5pm UK & Ireland time).
The back-to-back fixtures were arranged after a number of Covid cases at the Bulls, who were scheduled to be Saturday’s opponents.
The Sharks take on the tourists at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria, having lost 54-7 to the same opponents at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg on Wednesday night.
A negative set of Covid results in their latest round of PCR testing means there is now just one Lions player isolating – as a close contact of the member of staff who tested positive on Wednesday – and Warren Gatland has made 13 changes to the team that beat the Sharks in midweek.
Elliot Daly and Duhan van der Merwe are the only players retained in the run-on XV while Anthony Watson will also start his first match for this year’s Lions.
Courtney Lawes replaced Maro Itoje in the starting line-up on Saturday as the England lock was suffering from “a mild gastric bug” while Bundee Aki came onto the bench for Finn Russell, who has an Achilles issue.
The Sharks have made 11 changes to their starting line-up too. Here are how the two teams line up…
Sharks: Anthony Volmink; Marnus Potgieter, Werner Kok, Murray Koster, Thaakir Abrahams; Lionel Cronje, Jaden Hendrikse; Nthuthuko Mchunu, Kerron van Vuuren, Wiehahn Herbst, Le Roux Roets, Reniel Hugo, Dylan Richardson, Mpilo Gumede, Phepsi Buthelezi (captain).
Replacements: Dan Jooste, MJ Majola, Khutha Mchunu, Thembelani Bholi, Jeandre Labuschagne, Cameron Wright, Boeta Chamberlain, Jeremy Ward, Lourens Adriaanse, Rynhardt Jonker, Curwin Bosch.
British & Irish Lions: Liam Williams; Anthony Watson, Elliot Daly, Chris Harris, Duhan van der Merwe; Dan Biggar, Gareth Davies; Rory Sutherland, Jamie George (captain), Tadhg Furlong, Courtney Lawes, Jonny Hill, Tadhg Beirne, Hamish Watson, Jack Conan.
Replacements: Ken Owens, Wyn Jones, Kyle Sinckler, Adam Beard, Sam Simmonds, Tom Curry, Conor Murray, Bundee Aki.
Wherever you are in the world, you won’t want to miss the action so below we explain how to find a reliable live stream.
How to watch Sharks v Lions from outside your country
If you’re abroad, but still want to watch your local rugby coverage, like Sharks v Lions, you can do so by using a VPN – Virtual Private Network.
VPNs allow you to get around any geo-blocking by changing your IP address so you appear in a different location and can watch the same legal Lions live stream you would at home.
Our friends at TechRadar have tested hundreds of VPN and recommend ExpressVPN, which is easy to use, has strong security features and allows you to watch on several devices at once, including smart TVs and phones, iPads, tablets, PCs and Macs.
Plus, ExpressVPN comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. You can try it out for a month for free or sign up for an annual plan and get three months free.
Sharks v Lions live stream: How to watch from the UK & Ireland
All the Lions’ matches in South Africa, including the three Tests against the Springboks, will be televised live on Sky Sports. Coverage of the Sharks match starts at 4pm on Sky Sports Action and Main Event, with kick-off at 5pm.
Sky TV and Sports packages are available from £45 a month.
Highlights of this match will also be available on free-to-air TV – All 4 and S4C (10.30pm).
If you’re from the UK but are overseas when the Lions tour takes place, you can get your normal live stream but you’ll need a VPN – see the information above.
Sharks v Lions live stream: How to watch from the USA
If you live in the States, NBC has the rights to 2021 Lions matches, with games streamed on Peacock Premium, which is available for $4.99 a month.
This match will kick off at noon EST and 9am on the West Coast.
Sharks v Lions live stream: How to watch from Australia
For those in Australia, streaming service Stan Sport has the exclusive rights to show British & Irish Lions matches in 2021. The Sharks fixture kicks off at 2am on Sunday in Australia.
It costs $10 a month to add Stan Sport to your general Stan plan – and there is also a seven-day free trial available so you could test it out.
Sharks v Lions live stream: How to watch from New Zealand
The Sharks v Lions match will kick off at 4am on Sunday New Zealand time and will be live on Sky Sport NZ 1.
It costs $31.99 a month to add Sky Sport to your Sky Starter pack ($25.99).
Sharks v Lions live stream: How to watch from South Africa
This match (kick-off 6pm SA time) will be live on SuperSport’s CSN, Grandstand and Rugby channels.
There are various DStv packages available that give access to SuperSport, ranging from Access, which has the Blitz and Variety 4 channels, to Premium, which includes all 18 sports channels.
Sharks v Lions live stream: How to watch from Japan
JSPORTS will be showing 2021 Lions matches in Japan and the Sharks fixture kicks off at 1am on Sunday Japan time.
Sharks v Lions live stream: How to watch from Asia
Outside of Japan, Premier Sports Asia has the rights to broadcast British & Irish Lions matches in Asia and will show matches in 22 territories – Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
A monthly subscription to Premier Sports Asia is $25.99 or a rolling annual contract is $129.99.
We recommend VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:
- Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service)
- Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad
We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
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