The British & Irish Lions rugby union team faces the most important match in its recent history when the Lions face the New Zealand All Blacks in the first Test match of the Lions tour, a match chatty will live stream from Auckland on Saturday, with the Lions insisting that their team’s pride and grit will be enough to stage a massive upset of world’s No. 1 national rugby side.
But how? The current edition of the British & Irish Lions — a touring team made up of top players from all four countries in the Unite Kingdom plus Ireland — were assembled only about one month ago and they are playing the first of three Tests on the tour at an iconic venue where New Zealand has not lost a game since 1994. In their last match, the All Blacks crushed Pacific rivals Samoa by a ferocious 78-0 tally .
Meanwhile, the Lions have already lost two games of the six played on the tour so far, falling to Super Rugby sides Blues and Highlanders — though the Lions enter the Test match after a 34-6 domination of another Super Rugby team, Chiefs, in Hamilton on Tuesday .
To find out how to watch a live stream of the New Zealand All Blacks Vs. British & Irish Lions first Test match, see the streaming information at the bottom of this article. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. New Zealand Standard Time at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand, on Saturday, June 24. For fans in the United Kingdom and Ireland, that start time will be 8:30 a.m. British Summer Time. Rugby viewers in the United States, however, will need to stay up into the wee hours to watch the live stream. The All Blacks vs. Lions game will get underway at 3:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 12:30 a.m. Pacific.
To watch a preview of the New Zealand vs. Lions Test match courtesy of Radio New Zealand, click on the video below.
In a surprise move, Lions Coach Warren Gatland has left out Captain Sam Waterford, handing the on-field leadership role to Ireland’s Peter O’Mahony instead . Elliot Daly and Liam Williams have also earned starting places in the back three on the strength of their performances against Chiefs mid-week.
Can the British & Irish Lions, despite having played rugby together as a team for only the past few weeks, be able to summon enough pride to stage a historic upset at Eden Park? Or will the back-to-back World Cup champions New Zealand All-Blacks continue their dominance at the stadium, where they have not lost in more than two decades, to claim the first Test match of the Lions’ busy tour? To find out, watch the New Zealand All-Blacks Vs. British & Irish Lions rugby union first Test match live stream online from the iconic 50,000-seat Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand, with streaming video provided by WatchESPN at this link , or by downloading either the WatchESPN or ESPN app to watch a live stream on mobile devices. WatchESPN also streams live on the Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku, and other set-top streaming devices, allowing fans to watch the All-Blacks vs. Lions Test rugby showdown streaming live to their TV sets.
As an alternative, for fans who are unable to access WatchESPN (which requires login credentials), the Sling TV basic internet TV package offers ESPN, including the New Zealand vs, British & Irish Lions game, and offers a seven-day free trial. To sign up and watch the rugby union match for free, visit this link .
In the United Kingdom, fans can watch a live stream as the British & Irish Lions take on the world champion All Blacks in the first Test of the New Zealand tour using the Sky Go streaming service, which can be found at this link but will require a subscription to Sky Sports. The New Zealand Sky Sports channel will also carry the rugby match in that country, with a live stream available at this link .
[Featured Image by David Rogers/Getty Images]