A rugby tour 12 years in the making: Australia awaits the British and Irish Lions
The Captain of the British & Irish Lions, Maro Itoje, left, with head coach Andy Farrell during the British and Irish Lions Squad Announcement in the AmEx Lounge at The O2, London, Thursday May 8, 2025. ( John Walton/PA via AP)
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — A huge economic boost, 40,000 British and Irish visitors in a swathe of red supporter gear, and the combined rugby might of four countries set to take on Australia.
The 10-match British and Irish Lions tour — a once-every-12-year occasion for Australia — kicks off next month and local organizers are already primed for the influx of rugby-loving visitors from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Advertisement
The first of three test matches is 50 days away, in Brisbane on July 19. The second test is scheduled for July 26 in Melbourne and the third in Sydney on Aug. 2.
'The Lions is something that tends to reach beyond just the rugby union fans,' Australia head coach Joe Schmidt said during a visit Friday to Suncorp Stadium, "because it's such an infrequent tour, people just get interested and we'd love to earn the support of all those folk by being really competitive.
'I'd love to think we're in the hunt.'
Who are the Lions?
The first Lions tour in 1888 comprised mostly English players and included matches in Australia and New Zealand. The tradition grew and since 1989, a Lions squad featuring Irish, England, Scottish and Welsh players has toured every four years on a rotational basis to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
Advertisement
Andy Farrell is head coach of a 38-man squad for the 2025 tour, with England lock Maro Itoje selected as captain.
Recent history
Australian rugby has declined since its historic 2001 series victory over the Lions. The 1999 Rugby World Cup champions recovered to clinch that series with back-to-back wins in Melbourne and Sydney after a first-test loss in Brisbane, when the Wallabies were stunned by a crowd overwhelmingly dominated by visiting fans.
In 2013, the Lions — coming off a mid-week loss to the Canberra-based Brumbies in a tour game — edged Australia 23-21 in the first test in Brisbane and then, after losing 16-15 in Melbourne, rallied for a comprehensive 41-6 victory in Sydney.
Advertisement
Wallabies resurgence
After failing to make the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals in 2023, Australia has been in a rebuilding phase under New Zealand-born Schmidt, a former Ireland coach. The Wallabies had six wins in 13 tests in a 2024 season that ended in a 22-19 loss to Ireland in Dublin, but an influx of new players and some improved performances have increased expectations for 2025.
Schmidt, who will start assembling his squad next month as domestic teams bow out of the Super Rugby Pacific championship, knows that the Wallabies need to start being more consistent to win back the support of an Australian public which has a vast number of sporting choices.
The Wallabies are No. 8 in the World Rugby rankings for men's international teams and need to improve quickly to get a good seeding for the 2027 World Cup, which Australia is hosting.
Advertisement
We 'need a series of really good performances and, and it's something that we're aspirational about and we work really hard behind the scenes to try to get into the mix,' Schmidt said. 'I think some of the promising signs, the way the Wallabies finished off last year, the way the Super Rugby teams have competed this year, and so it's our challenge to try to continue that.'
Seeing red
James Horwill, Australia's captain in the 2013 series, has seen enough red when it comes to Lions tours.
His enduring memory of the 2001 series, when he was a teenager watching the first test on TV?
'It felt like a home game for the British and Irish Lions just with just with the red shirts and the crowd," he said.
Advertisement
He said there was more obvious support for Australia 12 years ago with more fans in gold, but the red of the Lions still stood out.
'You walk out of the hotel, there was red everywhere. It's almost like the British and Irish Lions fans don't bring anything else other than red t-shirts,' he said. 'They wear it everywhere, so we need our fans here to step up to the mark because we know they're coming in droves from the U.K."
___
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
26 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Allies To Plead With Trump, FTSE CEO Pay Record, Apollo's Wizardry
Your morning briefing, the business news you need in just 15 minutes. On today's podcast: (1) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his European allies arrive in Washington on Monday anxious to find out what Donald Trump committed to at his summit with Vladimir Putin and apprehensive that he'll force Kyiv into making unpalatable concessions. (2) UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer declared at a Jaguar Land Rover factory in May that his world-leading trade deal with President Donald Trump included a cut in US tariffs on British steel to zero. (3) Israel's economy slumped in the second quarter as the country's 12-day war with Iran imposed a total shutdown on many businesses. (4) Annual pay for bosses of FTSE 100 companies hit a record high for the third consecutive year. (5) In 1981, the year Airbus SE announced it would build a new single-aisle jetliner to take on Boeing the 737 ruled the roost. (6) Advanced Credit Solutions is a tiny finance firm based in Luxembourg that was founded by a Belgian and works with insurers. Despite its outwardly bland appearance, the business it does is anything but.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Williams sympathises with Scotland's contract woes
Women's Rugby World Cup 2025: Scotland v Wales Venue: Salford Community Stadium Date: Saturday, 23 August Kick-off: 14:45 BST Coverage: Live on BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport Online and BBC Sounds Wales co-captain Kate Williams says she sympathises with Scotland players who are going through contract uncertainty in the build up to the Rugby World Cup. More than half of Scotland's squad fear being left without a professional deal after the tournament in October. A source in their camp told the BBC in June players were suffering with their mental and emotional health. Wales experienced similar upheaval last year when they were given ultimatums and threatened with being withdrawn from the World Cup when contract talks broke down. The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) later apologised for its handling of the situation. "I wouldn't wish what we went through on any other team," said back-row forward Williams. Callender raring to go for Wales after World Cup injury scare Wales' sisters doing it for themselves (and Nant) Scotland are due to meet Wales in their Pool B opener on Saturday. It is a game which could decide which team makes it through to the quarter-finals, with Canada expected to top the group and both sides tipped to beat Fiji. "I think it's really poor timing for them, that they're going through this now," said Williams. "I guess our timing was possibly a bit better," she added, with Wales' woes coming prior to WXV2 rather than the World Cup. And while Williams says she and her team mates "feel their pain", there will be no time for sympathy in Salford. "We are here to play rugby and we're here to win that Test match," said the Gloucester-Hartpury flanker. "We know how important it is, so it's just going to be who's better on the day."
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Britons Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu to face each other in US Open doubles
British number ones Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu will face each other in the first round of the revamped US Open mixed doubles. The mixed doubles has been moved to before the main tournament on August 19 and 20, with one million dollars (£750,000) in prize money at stake for the winners of the 16-pair event. Draper will play with American Jessica Pegula after their original partners, Paula Badosa and Tommy Paul, both withdrew. With both inside the top five in the singles rankings, the pair have been handed the top seeding and will kick off their campaign against wild card pair Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz. The winners could face 24-time grand slam champion Novak Djokovic and his partner Olga Danilovic if the Serbian pair overcome Mirra Andreeva and Daniil Medvedev. Venus Williams, at the age of 45, faces Karolina Muchova and Andrey Rublev alongside compatriot Reilly Opelka.
