By Jonathan Easton

Sky Sports will launch a dedicated pop-up channel to cover the upcoming Lions tour of South Africa.

The British & Irish Lions 2021 Castle Lager Series in South Africa will be covered in full on the standalone Sky Sports The Lions channel. The channel will operate for the duration of the tour from Saturday July 17 through to August 10.

Rugby fans will be able to watch all eight games of the tour on the channel available to viewers on Sky Sports and Now. In addition to live coverage of the matches, Sky Sports The Lions will be complemented with  archive footage, documentaries and exclusive behind the scenes content.

The channel will replace Sky Sports Action for the duration of the tour.

Sky Sports managing director, Jonathan Licht said: “We’re thrilled to be working with the British & Irish Lions to bring our viewers a seventh consecutive Lions tour – a partnership that has now entered its 25th year – and we’re looking forward to seeing some thrilling rugby played in South Africa against the current World Champions. With fans unable to cheer on the Lions in person, we’re pleased to be able to bring the best of the action to the Sea of Red back home.”