How to watch South Africa vs Ireland: live stream 2024 rugby union 1st Test from anywhere, team news

Watch South Africa vs Ireland live stream

South Africa vs Ireland live streams are generally found on paid services around the world, including Sky in the UK, Ireland and New Zealand, Stan Sport in Australia and FloRugby in the US. But it's also being shown for free in many countries thanks to the NZR+ streaming service and on delay in South Africa on SABC. Not in your home country this weekend? You can use a VPN to unblock your usual South Africa vs Ireland live stream from anywhere. For full details on all South Africa vs Ireland live streams and TV channels, keep scrolling.

South Africa vs Ireland: preview

The World Champions meet the best team in the Northern hemisphere in Pretoria today, with South Africa vs Ireland looking like the best rugby fixture in a weekend of fantastic match-ups. And with the weather looking dry, warm and bright, we should be in for a cracking game.

It was at last year's RWC (that the Springboks eventually went on to win) that Ireland recorded a 13-8 victory that instantly made them favorites for that tournament. That ultimately proved a false dawn for Andy Farrell's side and, since losing Johnny Sexton and Keith Earls to retirement, they haven't quite got their groove back.

Traveling to South Africa for a two-match series will be a massive litmus test of their progress. Three consecutive one-point victories during the knockouts in France showed that you can add 'grit' to 'power' and 'skill' in the list of nouns that South Africa posses, and the destructive 41–13 beating they dished out to Wales a fortnight ago at Twickenham suggest that the Springboks are in no mood to slow down.

In this article you'll find all the details you need to watch a South Africa vs Ireland live stream today, including TV channels, streaming services around the world and how to catch the rugby for free.

South Africa vs Ireland teams:

South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Kwagga Smith, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche

Ireland: 15 Jamie Osborne, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter

Watch free South Africa vs Ireland live streams

Streaming service NZR+ is set to show Saturday's South Africa vs Ireland rugby Test absolutely FREE in limited territories. Most European countries are covered (with the UK and Ireland as notable exceptions), together with India, China and Sri Lanka. You can find a full list here.

Once you've signed up for a free account, you'll be able to stream the rugby on your choice of laptop, smartphone, Chromecast, Apple TV, Android TV and selected Smart TVs. NZR+ is also showing the New Zealand vs England, Australia vs Wales and Argentina vs France matches this weekend.

Note that South Africa's free-to-air public broadcaster SABC and its online SABC Plus platform will also showing the game for free, but not until 8.30pm SAST (7.30pm BST / 2.30pm ET) – that's three-and-a-half hours after kick-off.

Unblock any stream with a VPN

How to watch South Africa vs Ireland from outside your country

If you’re overseas when the Test rugby is on and try to watch the live action on your normal streaming service, you'll inevitably find that the coverage is blocked due to geographical rights reasons.

You can get past these blocks, however, by using a VPN. A virtual private network allows you to change your computer, smartphone or streaming device's IP address to a location that is showing your usual coverage. 

Use a VPN to stream South Africa vs Ireland from anywhere:

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Global South Africa vs Ireland live streams

How to watch South Africa vs Ireland live streams in the UK

You'll need Sky Sports to watch this game in the UK. It's set to be broadcast on Sky Sports Arena, with coverage starting at 3.30pm BST ahead of the 4pm kick-off.

Sky Sports is also the place to watch in Ireland, with neither RTÉ or Virgin Media picking up Ireland's summer Tests.

Sky Sports subscribers can also watch the Test match via the Sky Go app for desktop, iOS, Android, and Xbox and PlayStation consoles. If you want to sign up, you can check out our dedicated guide to Sky TV deals and packages for today's best prices.

Don't fancy being locked in to a longer contract? Now Sports memberships offer a more flexible option with Day (£14.99) and Month (£34.99) options.

To access Sky Go or Now from outside the UK, you'll need to download a good streaming VPN, as detailed below. 

How to watch Springboks vs Ireland live stream in South Africa

Springboks fans looking to watch the Ireland Test live can tune in via subscription service SuperSport. Kick-off is set for 5pm SAST on Saturday evening.

And if you're not going to be in front of your TV for this game, you can also watch the action via the network's streaming service for PC and Mac, as well as via SuperSport's dedicated app.

If you don't have SuperSport, then it's worth noting that free-to-air SABC will also show the game – just a little later. You can watch there or online on SABC Plus at 8.30pm SAST.

If you want to catch SuperSport or SABC's coverage but are out of the country, you can use a VPN to tune in from anywhere. 

How to watch South Africa vs Ireland in the US

Dedicated rugby streaming service FloRugby has the broadcast rights for the South Africa vs Ireland game in the US. This one starts on Saturday morning at 11am ET / 8am PT.

A rolling monthly FloRugby subscription costs $29.99, with an annual subscription costing $150 (effectively $12.50 per month) that you can sign up to on the website. 

That gets you access to the entire FloSports network, which includes coverage of cycling, motorsport and American Football, all of which can be watched on a range of devices, including iOS, Android, Roku, Fire TV, Chromecast and Apple TV.

Can I watch a South Africa vs Ireland live stream in Canada?

It doesn't look like any broadcaster or streamer has picked up this South Africa vs Ireland game in Canada. That means anybody visiting the Great White North this weekend who wants to watch live will need to download a VPN and watch via their domestic streaming service as if back at home.

How to live stream South Africa vs Ireland in Australia

To stream South Africa vs Ireland rugby live in Australia, you'll need a Stan Sport subscription.

It costs $27 a month (comprised of $12 for a Stan Basic plan plus $15 for Stan Sport upgrade), with incremental increases if you want to add HD/4K quality and additional devices.

Kick off is at 1am AEST in the early hours of Sunday morning.

How to watch South Africa vs Ireland in New Zealand

Sky Sport is the place to watch South Africa vs Ireland in New Zealand. Subscribers can watch on TV on Sky Sport 1 or tune in online using the Sky Go service, with kick-off set for 3am NZT on Sunday morning.

If you don't have Sky Sport already, you can also watch the rugby union with a Sky Sport Now pass, which costs $29.99 per week, $49.99 a month or $499.99 a year.