The British & Irish Lions will play nine fixtures on their 2025 tour of Australia – one fewer than their predecessors in 2001 and 2013.
Dropped from the schedule is the Combined Country (or NSW Country) fixture that the tourists have always won at a canter. Instead, the 2025 team will face an ANZAC side featuring players from New Zealand and Australia, as they did at the end of the 1989 tour.
Also missing is the stopover match against the Barbarians in the humidity of Hong Kong, which it was felt hampered the Lions’ preparations in 2013.
The match against the Rebels in Melbourne on 22 July has been cancelled after the franchise was dissolved. It’s expected that a team comprising players with indigenous Australian and Pacific Islands heritage will become an alternative opponent for the Lions.
Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney will host the Test series, which finishes on 2 August – almost a month later than 12 years ago.
The Lions will have a two-week preparation period ahead of their departure. Included within that is a warm-up match against Argentina at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on Friday 20 June – the first time the Lions will have played in Ireland.
The Lions 1888 Cup will be awarded to the winners of the fixture, which follows a similar match against Japan in Edinburgh ahead of the 2021 tour. Sky Sports will be televising all ten Lions matches in 2025 and a terrestrial broadcaster is expected for the Argentina fixture.
It will be the fifth Australia-only official Lions tour following trips in 1899, 1989, 2001 and 2013. They won the series on each of those occasions except for 2001, when Graham Henry’s team was beaten 2-1.
Ireland boss Andy Farrell has been appointed head coach in succession to Warren Gatland. Farrell was part of the management team in 2013 and 2017.
Since beating Australia 2-1 in 2013, the Lions have drawn with New Zealand and lost 2-1 to South Africa in a series played without supporters because of the Covid pandemic.
British & Irish Lions 2025 Fixtures
Fri 20 June Lions v Argentina (Aviva Stadium, Dublin)
Sat 28 June Lions v Western Force (Optus Stadium, Perth)
Wed 2 July Lions v Queensland Reds (Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane)
Sat 5 July Lions v NSW Waratahs (Allianz Stadium, Sydney)
Wed 9 July Lions v ACT Brumbies (GIO Stadium, Canberra)
Sat 12 July Lions v ANZAC XV (Adelaide Oval, Adelaide)
Sat 19 July Lions v Wallabies (Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane) First Test
Tue 22 July Lions v TBC (Marvel Stadium, Melbourne)
Sat 26 July Lions v Wallabies (Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne) Second Test
Sat 2 August Lions v Wallabies (Accor Stadium, Sydney) Third Test
Do you plan to be at any of these matches? Let us know via rugbyworldletters@futurenet.com or on our social media channels.
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