British & Irish Lions Tour 2025: Australia test dates, schedule, kick off times & how to watch on UK TV

With the final international rugby union test matches of 2024 having concluded there is now set to be much of the usual discussion and debate around the British & Irish Lions tour squad selection next year.

Scotland supporters can expected to be well represented after a strong November with wins over Australia, who the Lions will be facing, as well as Fiji and Portugal. It was also a strong month for Ireland who themselves beat the Wallabies and their head coach, Andy Farrell, will be the man charged with making the final squad decision and overseeing the team.

Before that though there is still the 2025 Six Nations Championship to be played which will ultimately have a huge impact on selections. That hasn’t stopped people already starting to get excited for the three match test series Down Under though and this is everything you need to know about the schedule, dates, UK kick off times and how to watch the action live:

When is the 2025 British & Irish Lions Tour? Fixtures and dates

Before they head to Australia the Lions will play Argentina at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on June 20. Starting off with a home test is something the Lions have done in the past including prior to their last tour in 2021 when they faced Japan at Murrayfield.

They then head for the other side of the world and the tour gets underway in earnest with their first match on June 28 against club side Western Force. The first Test match against the Wallabies will be played on July 19. Here is the full schedule as things stand:

• 20/06/2025 - The Lions v Argentina (Aviva Stadium, Dublin)
• 28/06/2025 - Western Force v The Lions (Optus Stadium, Perth)
• 02/07/2025 - Queensland Reds v The Lions (Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane)
• 05/07/2025 - NSW Waratahs v The Lions (Allianz Stadium, Sydney)
• 09/07/2025 - ACT Brumbies v The Lions (GIO Stadium, Canberra)
• 12/07/2025 - Invitational AU & NZ v The Lions (Adelaide Oval, Adelaide)
• 19/07/2025 - Wallabies v The Lions (Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane)
• 22/07/2025 - Melbourne Pre-Test (TBC) v The Lions (Marvel Stadium, Melbourne)
• 26/07/2025 - Wallabies v The Lions (MCG, Melbourne)
• 02/08/2025 - Wallabies v The Lions (Accor Stadium, Sydney)

British & Irish Lions Tour 2025 UK kick off times

The Lions have yet to confirm the official kick off times for the scheduled matches. However, rugby fans hoping to watch the matches from home should expect to be setting their alarms for early in the morning if they wan’t to watch the action live.

Australia’s five different time zones range between seven hours and nine hours ahead of the United Kingdom. So, just for example, if the first test in Brisbane (nine hours ahead) kicked off at 5pm local time that would be 8am in the UK.

How to watch 2025 British & Irish Lions Tour on UK TV

The entire of the 2025 British & Irish Lions Tour is set to be shown live and exclusively on Sky Sports in the UK. That means that is can also be streamed live via the SkyGo app.

Non-Sky customers can still watch all the action but will need to purchase a NowTV package. The service offers a variety of packages which provide access to Sky Sports without having to sign up for Sky TV.