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Associated Press
3 days ago
- Business
- Associated Press
A rugby tour 12 years in the making: Australia awaits the British and Irish Lions
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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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:
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
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) 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:
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
The qualities that make Maro Itoje the ideal British and Irish Lions captain
Sat in the delightful evening sunshine of Girona, Maro Itoje was deftly deflecting the questions he knew were going to come. It was October at England's pre-Autumn Nations Series training camp in Catalunya and a British and Irish Lions year dawned. Sprawled out on the terrace in the plush surroundings, taking each question in turn with the due consideration and care that are his trademark as an orator, Itoje neatly said a lot while revealing very little when probed about his memories of past trips and captaincy ambitions. 'It's an ambition of every British and Irish player to wear that red jersey,' Itoje admitted, though there was not too be any extended elaboration despite The Independent's best efforts. 'The most important thing is performance and I've got to make sure I am performing at a level that befits that jersey. Advertisement 'The 2017 Lions tour, the whole atmosphere and experience was really special. It's the closest I have ever felt to being a Beatle, it was manic and crazy. The supporters were great. It's something I look back on very fondly. My goal with all these things is just play good rugby. Andy will make decisions that are right for the team. My goal is to play as well as I can to make sure I am in the mix.' Maro Itoje starred for the Lions in 2017 against New Zealand as the youngest player on tour (Getty Images) And in the mix he most certainly is. Bestowed with perhaps the highest honour in British and Irish Lions by Andy Farrell on Thursday, the England lock will lead the pride Down Under this summer. Having just been named Saracens skipper and developed into a growing leader of importance within Steve Borthwick's side, Itoje no doubt expected the questions last October – perhaps what he did not expect was to emerge as the only bonafide candidate for the honour of Lions skipper mere months later. In doing so, he joins an extremely select group. Lions leaders have, generally, tended to be Celts; only three Englishmen have led the quadrennial tourists since Bernard Gadney skippered the side (if not the boat taking them there) in Argentina in 1936. Bill Beaumont, a great statesman of the game, led the Lions on the controversial trip to apartheid South Africa in 1980 before Martin Johnson, another lock leader and world-class player, captained back-to-back trips in 1997 and 2001. Advertisement Itoje has qualities of each of them. A future in politics could yet await a figure who has natural charisma and skill as a communicator, but like Johnson, the England lock is a leader as much by deed as by word. Teammates have marvelled regularly at the standards to which the second row holds himself, instilled from his formative days in a Saracens dressing room that demanded as much. The ill timing of the injury to Caelan Doris was a bitter blow to the Ireland No 8 but Itoje had already assembled an outstanding case for the captaincy. His past tours - 2017 in New Zealand, 2021 in South Africa – have shown that he is a player who rises to the occasion in Lions red, while those trips will also be useful experiences as he seeks to meld and mould his broadly-drawn squad. Maro Itoje enjoyed an excellent Six Nations (Getty Images) Simply being England captain is no guarantee at all of touring. Owen Farrell four years ago broke a run of three tours without that figure travelling, Borthwick (2009), Chris Robshaw (2013) and Dylan Hartley (2017) each overlooked. The old theory in cricketing circles was that Australia selected the best side and then chose their skipper whereas England chose their best captain and then their side. There can be no such accusation here – in Itoje, the Lions have plucked England's best player and best leader, too. Advertisement The journey to captaining the national team has not been straightforward, though. It was only after a difficult autumn that Borthwick felt compelled to act and demote the likeable and laudable Jamie George, feeling that a switch of skipper would be right for the team. It is not a change that his predecessor would have made; Eddie Jones famously felt Itoje too 'inward-looking' to be the right figurehead of his team. But in a strong Six Nations both individually and for the collective, Itoje showed the right qualities of a modern captain. An 80-minute man able to transform his side's fortunes, the 30-year-old was mature enough to relinquish certain duties to others, allowing opportunities for George, Ellis Genge and George Ford – contrasting but just as compelling talkers – to deliver key messages. Maro Itoje (AFP via Getty Images) Itoje may be a figure of the rugby establishment in many ways – he is Harrow-educated and a member of the dominant club of the last 15 years – yet also an outsider of sorts. Take the field this summer and he will be the first Black man to captain the Lions in the concept's 137-year history, an overdue reflection of a multicultural Britain. The son of Nigerian parents, his Pearl Fund charity supports disadvantaged children in west Africa, enabling them to have a better education. Away from the sport, he takes a keen interest in art, with his Akoje gallery hosting two pop-up exhibitions this month in Cavendish Square in Marylebone. These strands help make up a figurehead who is easy to warm to. At a recent event celebrating St George's Day at No 10 Downing Street, Itoje was invited to speak to the assembled guests, finding time to tease Keir Starmer with a nod to his own political ambitions amid a typically smooth articulation of the principles he espouses. Advertisement 'We all don't fit in a box,' Itoje said. 'Human beings don't fit in a box; we are not monoliths. I'm a rugby player, I'm an athlete, but that's what I do, that's not what I am. I have other interests – philanthropy, art, politics…I might refuse to leave here [Downing Street]. Maro Itoje has many interests away from rugby (Getty Images) 'I'm English, I'm British, and I'm also Nigerian and African. I'm deeply proud to carry all of my heritage with me every time I take the field.' A political future may have to wait but having won his own major election, Itoje will surely thrive as leader of the Lions pride.
Glasgow Times
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Glasgow Times
Champions France to host Ireland in opening match of truncated 2026 Six Nations
The clash between Antoine Dupont's champions and one of their main rivals for the title takes place on February 5, most likely at the Stade de France pending the conclusion of negotiations with the French Rugby Federation (FFR). The schedule for the 2026 Six Nations is the first to feature only one fallow week rather than the customary two. 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐌𝐞𝐧'𝐬 𝐒𝐢𝐱 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐅𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 🗓️🏆#GuinnessM6N — Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) May 19, 2025 First announced in 2023, the removal of one break week is to assist with the alignment of the new global rugby calendar. The first three rounds will be played on consecutive weekends, there will be no games on Saturday, February 28 and Sunday, March 1, before the competition closes with back-to-back matches. In another significant break with tradition, the Six Nations starts on a Thursday evening rather than the customary Friday or Saturday slots to avoid a clash with the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics on February 6. Maro Itoje's England start their 2026 Six Nations title push against Wales (Adam Davy/PA) England finished runners-up this year and their bid to go one better will begin against Wales at Allianz Stadium on February 7. They face a Valentine's Day appointment with Scotland at Murrayfield, collide with Ireland at home on February 21 and finish with away trips to Italy and France, with 'Le Crunch' closing out Super Saturday on March 14. All Six Nations matches will be shown free to air after a new rights deal lasting until 2029 was struck with ITV and BBC in March.
Telegraph
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Why the Lions must call up Owen Farrell and Jamie George
Bonhomie and bonding were in abundance as the British and Irish Lions squad gathered for the first time in Richmond for what is traditionally known as 'Messy Monday' when playing kits are distributed and tailors are on hand to measure each player for their tour suit. Yet what was noticeably in short supply was touring experience. Of the 38 picked by head coach Andy Farrell, only three – the captain Maro Itoje, his Saracens team-mate Elliot Daly and Ireland prop Tadhg Furlong – are survivors from the last proper Lions tour to New Zealand in 2017. Farrell has selected 26 first-timers and nine for which this is their second tour. But because of the Covid restrictions at the time, the 2021 tour of South Africa did not remotely resemble the travelling and match-schedule challenges that will face Farrell's squad in Australia. In contrast, the selection of Warren Gatland's 41-strong squad for the 2017 tour included 13 players who had experienced a traditional tour before, and two – Alun Wyn Jones and Leigh Halfpenny – who were on their third. The 2021 tour saw the players based in Johannesburg for three matches, against the Lions at Ellis Park and then two games against the Sharks, at Ellis Park and Loftus Versfeld. The remaining five games were played in Cape Town, with the squad based in Arabella Country Estate, a golf and country club located about 60 miles away. On previous tours, that would have been offset by the fact that players would have been used to playing midweek games on summer Test series with their national sides, but professionalism and the ever tightening of the global season have largely done away with those. You have to go back to 2014 for the last time England played a midweek fixture, against Crusaders, on their three-Test tour of New Zealand, while Wales played against the Chiefs during their three-Test tour against the All Blacks in 2016. The last home union to properly embrace the touring concept was Ireland in 2022, when Farrell deliberately requested two midweek fixtures against the Maori ahead of the first and third Tests – five games in 16 days – to stress-test his squad ahead of the World Cup in France the following year. Ireland lost the first game against the Maori and the first Test against the All Blacks but then recovered to finish the tour with three successive victories to win the series 2-1. James Lowe, one of the 15 Ireland players in Farrell's squad, is one of the Lions debutants, but at least he has experienced the workload and upheaval of that tour three years ago. 'We went to the third Test wanting to win and knowing that we could win and then to be able to deliver it was awesome,' said Lowe. 'The week was curated for that. The boys were shagged. It was tough. We started in Auckland, we had to drive down to Hamilton to play a game, then back to Auckland. We were training on the North Shore, which is about an hour away, and then took two flights down to Dunedin and then on to Wellington. Logistically, it was very tough but we went in after the first Test with so much confidence knowing that we could do a job and fortunately we could.' Jamison Gibson-Park, another Lions debutant, was on that 2022 tour with Lowe. 'There were all sorts of things going on, but we just embraced it and got stuck in,' he said. 'Lions tours have jam-packed schedules; it is not an easy thing to do but you have to be ready for anything. Faz [Andy Farrell] will always have you ready for anything that comes on the horizon. That is the attitude that you must have. You have to knuckle down and make do.' Which brings us to the positions that have been left open for Farrell to select before the tour departs to Australia next month. On this criterion alone, it makes absolute sense for the Lions head coach to turn to two former England captains: his son Owen and hooker Jamie George. If Farrell junior can find his form after an injury-affected season with Racing, his selection would make him the most experienced tourist as a veteran of the 2013, 2017 and 2021 tours. He and George, who toured in 2017 and 2021, would bring the hard-edged Lions nous and leadership that this squad is missing. On top of that, Owen would bolster fly-half and inside centre options as well as place-kicking, while George would be extra cover at hooker to ease the burden on the other three players in the specialist position. Farrell senior's coaching group is also light on Lions touring experience, with only Simon Easterby having toured before as a player in 2005, although he and John Fogarty were on the New Zealand tour with Ireland in 2022. Farrell has moved to address that by bringing in Johnny Sexton, a veteran of the 2013 and 2017 tours, as his kicking coach. Now, injuries permitting, Farrell junior and George would provide the heavy-duty Lions experience and knowledge of what is expected on a schedule that will bring the challenge of 10 games in seven weeks.
