Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh has shut down the prospect of star Wallabies being exiled for the British and Irish Lions series due to a decision to play overseas in 2026, emphasising the need to “put our best possible team onto the field” in July.
Waugh stressed victory against the Lions – and not future development – is the No.1 priority as he also welcomed the record level of interest in the blockbuster series with the release of a final allocation of tickets on Thursday due to take the overall tally past 500,000 tickets sold.
Rugby Australia is also set to confirm the Indigenous and Pasifika invitation game in Melbourne on the schedule, which will be predominantly made up of Australian players but could also see select invitees from the Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika as well.
The huge interest in the nine-game Lions tour has not only generated record ticket sales in Australia – there were 380,000 tickets sold in the 2014 – but Rugby Australia is also ahead of forecast commercial revenues, too. Most games are close to sold out, but small batches of tickets are still up for grabs, after corporates and tour groups handed back tickets.
LIONS SHARE
“The demand for access to games is as high as anyone’s seen it within Rugby Australia,” Waugh said.
“The beautiful element of the Lions is that it only comes to Australia every 12 years, and so the scarcity of it is just an enormous event.
Record numbers of people will watch the British and Irish Lions in 2025.Credit: Getty Images
“You then look at the performances of the Wallabies environment over the last six to 12 months, and the re-engagement in connection with the community, and so there’s a genuine connection with the Wallabies again.
“Then you’ve had a Lions supporter base that didn’t get the opportunity to travel to South Africa [in 2021 due to COVID], so it’s been eight years since they’ve had the opportunity to follow the Lions. So you get upwards of 50,000 supporters coming out from the British and Irish Lions, and couple that with the local expat community here in Australia.”
The British and Irish Lions have also reported record interest in the 2025 tour.
Under a profit share deal with the Lions, early forecasts had RA banking $100 million from the series, but it is now likely to be higher. The windfall will allow RA to pay down the $80 million debt facility taken in 2023 to stave off financial collapse, and along with a new broadcast deal in 2026 and another $100 million from hosting the 2027 Rugby World Cup, put Australian rugby back on solid financial footing.
“So it’s a pivotal moment on two fronts: the re-engagement in performance and the Wallaby brand, as well as a reset and a normalisation of our balance sheet,” Waugh said.
“It’s been very reassuring that rugby is healthy, rugby is strong, and there’s a really strong demand.”
VICTORY FIRST
Waugh has also been pleased to be signing a steady stream of new deals for Wallabies recently, following concerns about the large number of players coming off contract in 2025. Key stars such as Harry Wilson, Nick Frost and Fraser McReight have all committed to – or beyond – the 2027 World Cup. And the tournament has also started luring players home, with 31-Test lock Matt Philip set to return from Japan next season.
“What we’ve tried to instil back into the jersey is just the pride; they’ve got a great opportunity to leave a legacy over this next period,” Waugh said.
Fraser McReight celebrates after scoring a try against the Waratahs, a day after re-signing with RA.Credit: Getty Images
The futures of several Wallabies starters remain unresolved, though, and Tom Wright, Jake Gordon, Noah Lolesio and Taniela Tupou all have interest from Japanese clubs. The prospect of one or more departing in 2026 has raised questions about whether they would be overlooked for the Walabies Test series against the Lions, however.
After deciding to “invest in the future” last year by not selecting players bound for overseas clubs or rugby league, Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt appeared to continue the policy in January when Langi Gleeson was cut from a Wallabies camp after signing for Montpellier. But Waugh said there was no official policy.
“Without [me] sort of sitting in selection meetings with Joe and [head of high performance] Pete [Horne] and others, we’ve got to win the Lions series … we’ve got to be as competitive as we can be in the Lions series,” he said. “That is the way that we view it, I guess, organisationally.
Jake Gordon is one of several Wallabies stars off contract and with interest from overseas clubs.Credit: Getty Images
“We’re going to work really hard to retain as many as we can, conscious that we’ve got some really big events, and the Lions is one of them. And then you go to the Nation’s Cup next year in 2026 and the World Cup in 2027. So we don’t have a policy. Essentially, it’s pretty fluid.
“But we need to put our best possible team onto the field to win Test matches for Australia.”
REPLACING SCHMIDT
Waugh also gave an update on the recruitment process for Schmidt’s replacement. Queensland coach Les Kiss is the front-runner from a “targeted” shortlist, but Waugh said he had also spoken with leading coaches throughout the world. Waugh and Michael Cheika met in Sydney in February.
Peter Horne, Joe Schmidt and RA chief executive Phil Waugh.Credit: Brook Mitchell
“Continuity is really important, so that’d be the starting point,” Waugh said. “The last thing we want to do is go through a complete reset of the environment that’s just been reset post-23 [World Cup], and is in a really good spot.”
Following speculation Schmidt would stay involved in some capacity, Waugh said that scenario would depend on the interest of the new coach, and Schmidt.
“It’s pretty fluid, to be fair; it’s just around what’s going to work for the incoming coach and also what sort of appetite Joe will have,” Waugh said. “The involvement of Joe is very fluid.”
Waugh also said RA would consult Schmidt for a view on who should be his successor.
“We’d be crazy not to tap into Joe’s knowledge,” he said. “Joe isn’t a decision maker within the process, but his knowledge of the game and coaches around the world is up there with the best in the world.”
