England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland’s rugby union sides set out on the first of what will now become annual summer tours of the southern hemisphere.
Sky Sports will have exclusive coverage of England’s three test matches against South Africa, Wales’ tour of Australia, Ireland’s daunting three-test series versus New Zealand, plus Scotland’s single test match against the Wallabies.
A packed summer of international rugby begins with Scotland’s single test against Australia on June 5.
The last time these two countries met in the autumn internationals of 2009, Scotland ended a 27-year losing streak with a hard-fought 9-8 victory following an awesome defensive display that frustrated the Wallabies at Murrayfield.
Then three consecutive Saturdays of live international rugby on Sky Sports begins on June 9, featuring New Zealand v Ireland, Australia v Wales and South Africa v England, all facing each other in three-test series.
A special edition of The Rugby Club on June 7 sets the scene for the month ahead, with guests including Ireland’s Shane Horgan and Wales centre Jamie Roberts joining Alex Payne in the Sky Sports studio.
Fresh from their battle with the Barbarians at Twickenham, England will embark on their very first three-Test tour of South Africa.
Newly-appointed coach Stuart Lancaster has named 13 uncapped players in his 42-man squad as he looks to put his own stamp on the national set-up.
After restoring some of England’s pride at the Six Nations following their dismal performance at the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, Lancaster was appointed head coach of the national team on a permanent basis in March.
They will be facing a fresh South African outfit however, as the Springboks haven’t played a competitive international since their World Cup quarter-final loss to Australia in October 2011.
England have lost their last seven games against the Springboks and will be relying on their backs to pierce the South African rearguard. In their last four meetings, England have scored just 23 points.
Among the new recruits to the England line-up is the surprising inclusion of Tom Youngs, brother of Ben.
The Leicester player will be one of four hookers in the squad, despite having never started an Aviva Premiership match in that position.
In addition to the three test matches, Sky Sports will screen England’s two tour matches against South Africa Barbarians North and South teams.
Six Nations Grand Slam-winners Wales head to Australia, and given their current form they will go into the series full of confidence.
The Welsh will be intent on carrying their European dominance onto the global stage.
If they can achieve just that, Wales will end a 25-year wait for win against the Wallabies in the southern hemisphere.
The Welsh last faced Australia in the World Cup third-place play-off match, after being cruelly denied a place in the final itself after defeat to France.
Little sympathy was shown by the Aussies in the third-place match, who ran out 21-18 victors.
The test series may also provide an opportunity for Warren Gatland to assess the Wallabies, with rumours circulating that he will coach the British and Irish Lions on their tour of Australia in 2013.
Finally, Ireland meet New Zealand in their maiden three-Test series against the world champions.
As well as having the home advantage, the All Blacks will no doubt be buoyed by the fact that the first game on June 9 will be played at Auckland’s Eden Park, the site of their Rugby World Cup triumph last autumn.
Ireland are unlikely to be fazed, though. They too have fond World Cup memories of Eden Park after their 15-6 group stage win over Australia.
Their top scorer that day was Jonathan Sexton and the Leinster fly-half has been in scintillating form of late, scoring 88 points in seven Heineken Cup games.
The home nations tours in the southern hemisphere are part of a huge summer of rugby union on Sky Sports, which also includes extensive coverage of the IRB Junior World Championship in South Africa.
In July the new Rugby Championship (formerly Tri-Nations) begins, with Argentina joining New Zealand, South Africa and Australia in the southern hemisphere’s premier international rugby competition, and Sky Sports will screen every match live.
Sky Sports’ coverage of the home nations summer tour matches will be presented by Alex Payne and James Gemmell, with studio analysis coming from Michael Lynagh, Will Greenwood, Dewi Morris, Dean Ryan, Paul Wallace.
Commentary on England’s test series against the Springboks comes from Miles Harrison and Stuart Barnes, while Mark Robson and Ieuan Evans will call all three of Wales’ test matches in Australia.
Johnnie Hammond and Alan Quinlan will describe the New Zealand v Ireland test series.
Every match will be broadcast in stunning high-definition on Sky Sports HD, and will be available to view on mobile and tablet devices via Sky Go.
UPDATE: Scotland’s tour match against Fiji will be shown live on ESPN. Details below.
.
Yet again if you don’t have sky, there is no point in following England rugby ! No wonder playing numbers are down again.
Stop selling the sport out and let kids watch our national sports for free !
Quite and appears there are no highlights on terrestrial either. No wonder people get illegal free live streaming.