British and Irish Lions to play nine games on 2025 Australian tour
A combined Australia-New Zealand team will form an Anzac XV to play the British and Irish Lions in one of nine games on a monster tour in 2025 that will include three Tests against the Wallabies.
All five Australian Super Rugby teams will also get a shot at the supercharged tourists who will combine the best players from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The visit will be the first Lions tour of Australia since 2013, with Tests against the Wallabies to be played in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, with the MCG to host the Victorian clash.
The Lions remain one of world rugby‘s greatest drawcards and the tour will start a monster few years for rugby in Australia preceding the men’s World Cup in 2027, the women’s World Cup in 2029 and the Brisbane Olympics in 2032.
“The British and Irish Lions tour is one of the great sporting festivals – it is a real landmark of Australian and world sport,” Rugby Australia boss and former Wallaby Phil Waugh said.
“Rugby Australia is looking forward to welcoming back the Lions for the first time in 12 years as well as the tens of thousands of Lions fans from the northern hemisphere.”
Fixtures for the hotly anticipated visit were confirmed on Wednesday, with clashes against all five Australian Super Rugby clubs locked in for the first time since the Lions’ 1989 tour.
It will also be the first time since that tour the Lions will play the Anzac invitational XV, with the clash set for Adelaide Oval.
British and Irish Lions chief executive Ben Calveley said the series would be the “greatest Lions tour ever”.
“As we begin the countdown to Australia in 2025, the British and Irish Lions brand and organisation has never been stronger with a global fan base of some 14 million people, a significant following and strong level of engagement through our various digital platforms and a wide range of commercial partners comprised of some of the biggest brands and organisations in the world,” Calveley said in a release.
“Our ambition is to further build upon this position and make this upcoming tour the greatest Lions tour ever, positioning it as the major global sporting event of 2025.”
BRITISH AND IRISH LIONS 2025 AUSTRALIAN FIXTURES
• June 28 v Western Force, Optus Stadium
• July 2 v Queensland Reds, Suncorp Stadium
• July 5 v NSW Waratahs, Allianz Stadium
• July 9 v ACT Brumbies, GIO Stadium
• July 12 v Invitational Aus-NZ XV, Adelaide Oval
• July 19 v Wallabies, Suncorp Stadium
• July 22 v Melbourne Rebels, Marvel Stadium
• July 26 v Wallabies, MCG
• August 2 v Wallabies, Accor Stadium
https://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/br...our-c-11325156
