Western Force v British and Irish Lions: TV channel, live stream and kick off time
The Lions celebrate Bundee Aki's try versus Argentina last Friday
The British and Irish Lions will play Western Force in Perth in the opening game of the 2025 tour on Saturday, June 28.
It will be the first match on Australian soil after a disappointing 24-28 defeat to Argentina in Dublin for Andy Farrell’s side and it will be shown live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Fans can buy a Sky Sports subscription to watch all of the Lions games or pay for a monthly NowTV pass to get 30 days of access to Sky channels. You can get those deals here.
Australian viewers will be able to watch the games on Nine/9Now where they will be free to air, while Stan Sports will also show games. In the US the warm-up matches will be streamed on RugbyPass and the Test matches will be streamed on Paramount+. You can sign up to Paramount+ here.
The time difference in Perth means the match will kick-off at 11am UK time and coverage will start an hour earlier on Sky Sports.
British & Irish Lions: When Andy Farrell will name his team to tackle the Western Force
Long journey
It will be a first chance for the Lions to secure a win in Australia after a gruelling 20-hour flight from Dublin via Doha and Farrell has a couple of injury concerns ahead of the first game. Irish duo Jamison Gibson-Park and Hugo Keenan have picked up knocks and may not be available for the match but Scotland’s Huw Jones is expected to be available.
The team will mostly be made up of players from Leinster, Bath and Leicester, who joined up with the Lions later than other members of the squad because they were still involved in the final games of the United Rugby Championship and Gallagher Premiership seasons.
The game against Western Force is the first of four warm-up games that will see the Lions take on Queensland Reds in Brisbane, NSW Waratahs in Sydney and ACT Brumbies in Canberra. They will then play an invitational Australia and New Zealand side before the first Test against Australia in Brisbane on July 29.
The Lions will play a First Nations and Pasifika side before the second Test in Melbourne on July 26 and a third in Sydney on August 2 to complete the tour.