How to watch South Africa v England

Watch South Africa v England as the new Nations Championship throws up a truly box office fixture on its opening day. Steve Borthwick’s men know they face one hell of a challenge against the world champions at altitude in Johannesburg. Can they defeat the Springboks in their own back yard?

You can watch Springboks v England live streams for free in the UK, Ireland and France when the game kicks off at 4.40pm BST today. This article contains information on how to watch the game from anywhere, including details of how you can use a VPN to watch your usual streaming service if you’re overseas this weekend. There’s a match preview at the bottom of this page.

Read more: Confused by rugby’s newest international tournament? Here are all your Nations Championship questions answered

Key information

– South Africa v England date: Saturday 4 July 2026

– South Africa v England kick-off time: 4.40pm BST / 5.40pm CET / 5.40pm SAST / 1.40am AEST (Sunday) / 3.40am NZST (Sunday) / 11.40am EDT

– South Africa v England venue: Ellis Park, Johannesburg

– South Africa v England free streams: ITVX (UK), Virgin Media Play (Ireland), TF1+ (France)

– Watch from anywhere: Try NordVPN 100% risk-free

How to watch Springboks v England in the UK – live stream the game for free

Like every game of the Nations Championship, South Africa v England is available for free on streaming service ITVX in the UK. The match is also on terrestrial channel ITV4 – ITV has decided to put the football World Cup round-of-16 match between Canada and Morocco on flagship channel ITV1.

Pre-match build-up starts at at 4.20pm BST ahead of the 4.40pm kick-off.

ITVX is free to use, but you do need to complete a simple sign-up process to access the service. You also need an up-to-date TV Licence to stream live TV in the UK.

Read more: How to watch Nations Championship 2026 from anywhere

Stream South Africa v England from anywhere

Being overseas this weekend doesn’t mean you have to miss any of the Nations Championship action. By using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to change your IP address, you can avoid geo-blocking restrictions and stream Springboks v England as if you were back at home.

The tech experts at TechRadar and Tom’s Guide both rate NordVPN as world number one, thanks to its top-notch ability to unblock streaming services and security features.

How to watch Springboks v England for FREE in Ireland

Virgin Media Television is the place to watch South Africa v England in Ireland. You can tune in for free on the Virgin Media Play streaming service or, if terrestrial TV’s more your thing, Virgin Media One.

Coverage starts at 4.20pm IST before the match gets underway at 4.40pm.

South Africa v England free streams in France

French fans can watch two of their biggest rivals for the Nations Championship title for free on both TF1 and its TF1+ streaming service.

Coverage of Springboks v England starts at 5.30pm CET, ahead of the 5.40pm kick-off.

French fans who are away from home but want to tune in with their usual French language commentary can still access their TF1 coverage from overseas by using a VPN, such as NordVPN.

Other Springboks v England global streams

South Africa: If you’re in South Africa you need to head to SuperSport to watch Springboks v England. The match gets underway at 5.40pm SAST this evening.

Australia: Fans down under need to head to Stan Sport for South Africa v England live streams. You’ll need a base Stan subscription (monthly fees start at $12 per month) plus $20 per month to watch Stan Sport. Kick-off is 1.40am AEST on Sunday morning, so it’s going to be a late night.

New Zealand: In New Zealand, Springboks v England is on Sky Sport, which costs $54.99 per month for a streaming subscription. Kick-off is a not very civilised 3.40am NZST on Sunday morning.

United States: In the US you can watch South Africa v England, along with all the Nations Championship games, on World Rugby’s RugbyPass TV. It’s free to use, though you do need to register before you can start streaming the action. Kick-off is at 11.40am EDT/8.40am PDT this morning.

South Africa v England match preview

After the Six Nations campaign England fans endured, this is not the way they’d have chosen to start their first-ever Nations Championship campaign. With that much-talked about 12-game winning streak now long-forgotten, the talk inevitably shifted to the four games Steve Borthwick’s team lost after beating Wales on the opening weekend – a record for England in the Six Nations era. They were much improved in their narrow defeat to France in Paris, but this is a side in serious need of a win.

So the last thing they need is a trip to the southern hemisphere to face the world champion Springboks at altitude at their Ellis Park fortress in Johannesburg. Unsurprisingly, head coach Rassie Erasmus has not gone easy as he bids to add yet another prize to South Africa’s trophy cabinet. The names in the pack (including a formidable front row of Ox Nché, Malcolm Marx and Thomas du Toit) would strike fear into any side on the planet, while there’s plenty of tries in the back division. The most significant absence among the Springbok ranks is arguably injured fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

England have kept faith with the core of the side that ran France so close in March. Fin Smith continues at fly-half alongside Ben Spencer, with regular half-back partner Alex Mitchell among the replacements. Tommy Freeman and Seb Atkinson are the centre partnership once more, with exciting attacking options outside them in the form of Immanuel Feyi-Waboso on the wing and George Furbank at full-back.

Up front, George Martin comes in at lock for the rested Maro Itoje, while Guy Pepper comes in for Tom Curry. In Itoje’s absence, Jamie George wears the captain’s armband, but Henry Pollock (so impressive in Northampton Saints’ run to the Gallagher PREM title) has to make do with a place on the bench.

Springboks v England line-ups and officials

South Africa

15. Damian Willemse

14. Cheslin Kolbe

13. Jesse Kriel

12. Damian de Allende

11. Kurt-Lee Arendse

10. Manie Libbok

9. Grant Williams

1. Ox Nché

2. Malcolm Marx

3. Thomas du Toit

4. Eben Etzebeth

5. Ruan Nortje

6. Siya Kolisi (captain)

7. Pieter-Steph du Toit

8. Jasper Wiese

Replacements:

16. Jan-Hendrik Wessels

17. Gerhard Steenekamp

18. Zach Porthen

19. Marco van Staden

20. Cameron Hanekom

21. Cobus Reinach

22. Andre Esterhuizen

23. Canan Moodie

England

15. George Furbank

14. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso

13. Tommy Freeman

12. Seb Atkinson

11. Cadan Murley

10. Fin Smith

9. Jack van Poortvliet

1. Ellis Genge

2. Jamie George (captain)

3. Joe Heyes

4. Alex Coles

5. George Martin

6. Ollie Chessum

7. Tom Curry

8. Ben Earl

Replacements:

16. Luke Cowan-Dickie

17. Beno Obano

18. Asher Opoku-Fordjour

19. Charlie Ewels

20. Guy Pepper

21. Henry Pollock

22. Alex Mitchell

23. Marcus Smith

James Doleman of New Zealand has the whistle for Springboks v England. His assistants are Ireland’s Andrew Brace and France’s Pierre Brousset. The TMO is another Kiwi, Richard Kelly.

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