British & Irish Lions fixtures 2025

The fixtures for the British & Irish Lions tour in 2025 have been announced. It will begin with a pre-tour match against Argentina which will be hosted in Ireland. It will be the first time the Lions have played in the country.

That game – in which the two sides will compete for the 1888 Cup – will take place during a two-week preparation period ahead of the tour to Australia. The side’s itinerary down under kicks off on Saturday 28 June, when they play Western Force in Perth.

Over the subsequent five weeks, Andy Farrell’s team will take on the Queensland Reds, NSW Waratahs, ACT Brumbies and an invitational Australia and New Zealand XV that will be led by former All Blacks coach Ian Foster.

A game was also lined up against the Melbourne Rebels, but the dissolution of that franchise means a change of opponents for the 22 July fixture at Marvel Stadium. Instead, the Lions will face a First Nations & Pasifika XV – the first time such a team has been assembled.

Related: British & Irish Lions coaching staff

These 2025 British & Irish Lions fixtures all build up to the three-match Test series against the Wallabies, taking place in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. The tour ends with that third Test on Saturday 2 August.

British & Irish Lions 2025 fixtures

Friday 20 June

  • British & Irish Lions v Argentina
    Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Saturday 28 June

  • Western Force v British & Irish Lions
    Optus Stadium, Perth

Wednesday 2 July

  • Queensland Reds v British & Irish Lions
    Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

Saturday 5 July

  • NSW Waratahs v British & Irish Lions
    Allianz Stadium, Sydney

Wednesday 9 July

  • ACT Brumbies v British & Irish Lions
    Gio Stadium, Canberra

Saturday 12 July

  • Invitational Australia and New Zealand XV v British & Irish Lions
    Adelaide Oval, Adelaide

Saturday 19 July

  • FIRST TEST
    Australia v British & Irish Lions
    Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

Tuesday 22 July

  • First Nations & Pasifika XV v British & Irish Lions
    Marvel Stadium, Melbourne

Saturday 26 July

  • SECOND TEST
    Australia v British & Irish Lions
    MCG, Melbourne

Saturday 2 August

  • THIRD TEST
    Australia v British & Irish Lions
    Accor Stadium, Sydney

How does the itinerary compare to previous British & Irish Lions tours of Australia?

This will be the fifth official Australia-only Lions tour following trips in 1899, 1989, 2001 and 2013. The Lions won the series on each of those occasions except for 2001, when Graham Henry’s team was beaten 2-1.

The tourists will play nine British & Irish Lions fixtures in Australia – the same number their predecessors played in 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.

Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney also hosted Tests in 2013, though the British & Irish Lions fixtures were completed by 6 July – nearly a whole month earlier.

Since beating Australia 2-1 in 2013, the Lions drew the 2017 Test series against New Zealand in 2017, and lost 2-1 to South Africa in 2021. The latter series was played without supporters because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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