There are plenty of subplots in this Gallagher Premiership tie at the Rec

Bath v London Irish live stream: How to watch the Premiership match online from anywhere

When these two sides met in December of 2019, Bath tore down the Christmas decorations as they ran in five first-half tries on their way to a 38-10 victory. The Exiles only had an Adam Coleman try in the second half to show they had anything to throw back at Bath.

But while a lot has changed since the pandemic hit, there has not been a huge gulf between the pair when the Premiership ground to a halt.

Just two points separate Bath in sixth, on 30 points, and Irish in eighth, on 28. Each side took heavy losses in their last outings – Bath lost 57-20 to Chiefs and Irish lost 39-0 to Sale – and while both teams have won three and lost three in their last six games, Irish earned 16 points from those while Bath only had 13.

However, we have had an unprecedented break and plenty of personnel swaps, so form could well be irrelevant.

In recent days Bath promoted former London Irish hero Neal Hatley to the role of head coach. Bath have also signed scrum-half Ben Spencer from Saracens and no-nonsense lock Will Spencer. But gone are Rhys Webb, Freddie Burns, Francois Louw and Tom Homer, with the full-back returning to Irish.

The Exiles have also added a huge number of international caps to their ranks, with former Argentina skipper Agustin Creevy joining up, alongside 100-cap Wallabies lock Rob Simmons. With Ireland back-rower Sean O’Brien also raring to get torn in for London Irish, they will be optimistic of a reversal of last year’s festive flop.

Bath: Anthony Watson; Samesa Rokoduguni, Jonathan Joseph, Josh Matavesi, Ruaridh McConnochie; Rhys Priestland, Ben Spencer; Lewis Boyce, Tom Dunn, Will Stuart, Josh McNally, Charlie Ewels (captain), Zach Mercer, Sam Underhill, Taulupe Faletau.

Replacements: Jack Walker, Beno Obano, Christian Judge, Elliott Stooke, Josh Bayliss, Will Chudley, Cmeron Redpath, Tom De Glanville

London Irish: Tom Parton; Ben Loader, Curtis Rona, Terrence Hepetema, Ollie Hassell-Collins; Paddy Jackson, Nick Phipps, Harry Elrington, Motu Matu’u, Sekope Kepu, Ben Donnell, George Nott, Matt Rogerson, Seán O’Brien (captain), Albert Tuisue.

Replacements: Matt Cornish, Will Goodrick-Clarke, Ollie Hoskins, Sebastian de Chaves, Blair Cowan, Ben Meehan, Theo Brophy Clews, Matt Williams.

Below we explain how to find a reliable live stream for Bath v London Irish wherever you are.

How to watch Bath v London Irish from outside your country

If you’re abroad, but still want to watch your local Premiership coverage, like Bath v London Irish, you can do so by using a VPN – Virtual Private Network.

VPNs allow you to get around any geo-blocking by changing your IP address so you appear in a different location and can watch the same legal Premiership live stream you would at home.

Our friends at TechRadar have tested hundreds of VPN and recommend ExpressVPN, which is easy to use, has strong security features and allows you to watch on several devices at once, including smart TVs and phones, iPads, tablets, PCs and Macs.

Plus, ExpressVPN comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. You can try it out for a month for free or sign up for an annual plan and get three months free.

Bath v London Irish live stream: How to watch from the UK

Bath v London Irish, which kicks off at 3pm on Saturday 15 August, will be shown live on BT Sport Extra 1/App in the UK. If you don’t have a BT contract but want to watch the match, don’t worry because you can still easily watch it online.

That’s because BT Sport has a contract-free monthly pass that allows you to get instant access to all four of their sport channels for just £25.

That’s great value given they are showing every Premiership match played behind closed doors live and will also be covering the European Champions and Challenge Cup knockout stages in September and October. Plus, you can cancel at any time because there’s no contract.

If you’re from the UK but are overseas when Bath v London Irish takes place, you can get your normal live stream but you’ll need a VPN – see the information above.

Bath v London Irish live stream: How to watch from the USA

If you live in the States, the official broadcaster of Premiership matches is NBC, with matches streamed on NBC Sports Gold so you can watch them anytime and anywhere.

Bath v London Irish will kick off at 10am EST and 7am on the West Coast.

The NBC Sports Gold Pass for rugby is $79.99 and includes coverage of the Gallagher Premiership, European Champions and Challenge Cups, and Guinness Six Nations.

Bath v London Irish live stream: How to watch from New Zealand

It’s little wonder that Sky Sport NZ, with ten sports channels, including one dedicated to rugby, is the rights-holder for Premiership matches in New Zealand.

If you want to tune in to Bath v London Irish from the Land of the Long White Cloud, the match kicks off at 2am on Sky Sport NZ 1.

It costs $31.99 a month to add Sky Sport to your Sky Starter pack ($25.99) but if you sign up for 12 months before 30 September 2020 you’ll get your first month free. Plus, you’ll get Sky Go, which allows you to watch live rugby wherever you are.

We recommend VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:

  1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service)
  2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad

We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing. 

Can’t get to the shops? You can download the digital edition of Rugby World straight to your tablet or subscribe to the print edition to get the magazine delivered to your door.

Follow Rugby World on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.