World Rugby

Rugby Australia Propose Radical New Fixture For The 2025 Lions Tour

Rugby Australia Propose Radical New Fixture For The 2025 Lions Tour

Rugby Australia Propose Radical New Fixture For The 2025 Lions Tour which would combine the very best talent from Australia and New Zealand.

Nov 2, 2022 by RugbyPass
Rugby Australia Propose Radical New Fixture For The 2025 Lions Tour

Now Just over two seasons away, the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour to Australia is at the forefront of Rugby Australia’s mind.

Arguably Rugby’s last great tour, the British and Irish Lions series is a unique combination of commercialism and traditional rugby values which creates riveting drama both and off the pitch.

At points the tour’s viability in the modern game has been called into question. With an ever-expanding fixtures list at both club and international level, the issue of player welfare is at the forefront of the debate. 

Despite this, the Lions are always well received by both their southern hemisphere hosts and their travelling home nations supporters.

The concept of pulling together the very best talent from Britain and Ireland to form a super team capable of going toe-to-toe with the “Big Three” southern hemisphere powerhouses once every four years is a truly novel sporting event the likes of which is not seen in any other major sport. 

For the host nation, the economic benefits are significant. Take for example the last tour to take place in Australia in 2013. 

In total an estimated 30,000 fans toured the country as they followed the enthralling 2 – 1 series win for the visitors. With them they brought an estimated A$150 million (91.82 million pounds) to the Australian economy. 

These sorts of funds and the knock-on effects for the host nation’s rugby union are unlike any other revenue stream outside of hosting a Rugby World Cup.

2013 was also arguably the rebirth of the Lions as a competitive entity having fallen in the previous three tours as they lost to the Wallabies in 2001, the All Blacks in 2005 and the Springboks in 2009.

Winning the series in the 2013 before tying an all-time classic with the All Blacks in 2017 re-established the Lions brand.

Losing the 2021 series in South Africa is a blip that whilst it counts can be viewed in the prism of obscurity. The 2021 series was heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

There were no touring fans in the stands as the tests were played behind closed doors in the giant Cape Town stadium. 

Several players were forced into self-isolation due the protocols put in place and overall, the play in the series left rugby fans unenthused as the World Champion Springboks battered their way to a tight 2 – 1 series victory.

Even in these bizarre circumstances the Lions acquitted themselves well in a series that will perhaps be best remembered for the off-field drama surrounding Springbok Director Of Rugby Rassie Erasmus who was later banned for his indiscretions. 

Despite the lost revenue from ticket sales the tour itself still made a strong profit of £8.2million thus further proving that the tour remains viable financial product.

Turning back towards the next tour to Australia, speaking to the Daily Mail, Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan has put forward a proposal to bring in their closed rival and long-time partners New Zealand.

The proposal would add another fixture to the series and would see the Wallabies and All Blacks join forces to form an ANZAC team which would comprise of the best players from the two nations. 

Whilst not a new concept having previously happened on one occasion back in 1989, McLennan believes that the fixture would smash all previous attendance records. 

“We’ve talked to the Kiwis about hosting an Anzac team against the Lions in 2025 and they’re considering the idea,”

“I’m in no doubt it would be a belter and we’d sell the MCG out with 100,000 fans.

“The best of the Wallabies and the All Blacks against the Lions would create enormous global coverage.”

As far as the on-field product goes, the fixture makes immense sense as the prospect of seeing the very best antipodean players playing together would be a truly revolutionary step in the professional game.

It would also go quite some distance to repairing the severed relationship between Rugby Australia and the New Zealand Rugby Union who have been at loggerheads over the Super Rugby tournament. 

For Rugby fans seeing a line-up that could feature All Blacks such as Caleb Clarke, Ardie Savea and Jordy Barrett combining with Wallabies like Marika Korobiete, Jordan Petaia and Taniela Tupou would make for edge of your seat viewing.  

How exactly the fixture would fit into the tour would be interesting, perhaps most logically it would come one week before the three-test series starts to ensure that the tour remains relevant with the result still in the balance.

Irrespective it is these outside the box ideas that keep the sport exciting!

Written by Philip Bendon