Next week, the British and Irish Lions squad will arrive in Australia for the first time in 12 years, bringing an estimated 40,000 fans with them across the country.
In a professional era of rugby, the Lions logically should have been consigned to the dark depths of history, alongside heavy cotton jerseys and laced leather balls.
The Lions tours have not only kept their place on an increasingly crowded and demanding sporting calendar, but they have flourished as the ultimate sporting bucket list for players and fans.
The British and Irish Lions will return to Australia after 12 yearsCredit: Fairfax
Who are the British and Irish Lions?
To understand what makes the Lions special, we have to go back to the very first tour in 1888 to New Zealand and Australia. The squad left by sea in April and didn’t return to England until November.
The squad played 35 rugby games and also played 19 games of Australian Rules against the best sides available to help fund the tour.
The first Lions were fearless adventurers, desperate to not only win on the field, but also engage with a new culture thousands of miles from home. In many ways, that hasn’t changed.
In the 32 tours that have followed to South Africa and New Zealand, the Lions attract the strongest players from Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales. To be selected is considered one of the highest honours in rugby; to win a Test series puts you in a small, elite group of players.
Wallabies Angus Bell, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Andrew Kellaway gather ahead of the British and Irish Lions tour at Taronga Zoo
Credit: Edwina Pickles
Why should I care?
The Lions tour every four years, alternating between South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.
The last time the Lions came down under was 12 years ago, when the Wallabies were defeated in a thrilling series by two games to one.
It is not uncommon for people in Britain and Ireland to save for years to have the opportunity of joining a Lions tour as a fan.
Demand has grown after the last Lions tour to South Africa in 2021 was played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This will be the first time fans will have followed the team in person since 2017 in New Zealand.
The Lions fanbase will spread across Australia, calling into Perth, Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide and Melbourne for each game of the tour.
English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish rugby supporters never support one team together, apart from every four years when the Lions tour, when long-held sporting grudges are temporarily quashed. English fans sing the Fields of Athenry and Irish fans will belt out Flower of Scotland in pubs across Australia.
British and Irish Lions fans will travel in their thousands to AustraliaCredit: Getty Images
How are Wales, Scotland, Ireland and England represented?
The Lions’ red shirt represents Wales, the white shorts represent England, the blue socks with a green top represent Scotland and Ireland.
A sea of red jerseys has become an iconic part of the imagery of the Lions abroad, with thousands of supporters filling the host city’s streets and stadiums in the colour.
Until the 1950 tour to Australia and New Zealand, the Lions wore dark blue jerseys, before changing to red.
The Lions tours are not only made up of players from each of the four countries, but also the coaching and backroom staff. The Lions will be led by Ireland coach and former Great Britain rugby league star Andy Farrell.
Lions captain Maro Itoje and coach Andy Farrell.Credit: Getty Images
Four countries against one – it’s hardly fair?
Four countries against one does sound unfair, especially against a Wallabies team that missed the 2023 World Cup quarter-finals, but history tells a different story.
Since their first tour in 1888, the Lions boast a winning record of 42 per cent against New Zealand, Australia and South Africa collectively.
A series win is cherished principally because it is so hard to do. Regardless of the stars available to the Lions, most have never played rugby together and have to retrain their bodies and minds to play completely differently from what they are used to doing with their own countries.
Alex Corbisiero, Owen Farrell and current Wallabies assistant coach Geoff Parling after winning the series in Australia in 2013Credit: Getty Images
The squad need to move beyond hard and fast national cliques swiftly, learn to trust teammates who were recently sworn enemies and adapt to a game plan that is being generated on the run.
England’s Lawrence Dallaglio famously said that he held his Lions series win in 1997 higher than his 2003 World Cup winner’s medal. Series wins are rare and the 2025 tour to Australia represents a golden opportunity for the Lions.
Do the Wallabies have any chance?
Absolutely. Since his appointment last March, Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt has built a strong squad that is finally working under a cohesive game plan.
In November, the Wallabies defeated England and Wales and lost by just three points to Ireland in Dublin. Granted, they also lost to Scotland by 14 points in Edinburgh.
Schmidt is a former Ireland coach who knows the Lions squad implicitly. He is the master at studying game plans and manipulating them to give his side the best chance of upsetting the odds.
The Wallabies are heavy underdogs, but they will make life difficult for the Lions.
Current Rugby Australia chairman Daniel Herbert scoring in 2001 the last time the Wallabies beat the Lions in a seriesCredit: Tim Clayton
Where are the Lions playing?
The Lions tours are a combination of games against Australian Super Rugby teams played across the country, as well as two invitational teams: the Australia and New Zealand invitational side and the First Nations and Pasifika XV.
The Lions will use the majority of these games to test their squad and build their best possible team that will face the Wallabies in the three-game Test series.
Who are the stars of the Lions team?
The Lions captain and second-rower Maro Itoje is only the second Englishman to captain the Lions in the professional era, following England World Cup winning skipper Martin Johnson who led the side in 1997 and 2001.
Off the field, he holds a political science degree, an MBA and runs an art gallery — all while being one of the world’s best players.
Melbourne-raised Sione Tuipulotu now plays for Scotland, is an exceptional centre and will provide a brilliant clash against Wallabies star Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii. He will be back on familiar turf with fellow Aussies, Ireland prop Finlay Bealham and winger Mack Hansen who were both raised in Canberra.
England winger Tommy Freeman is the tourists’ danger man, scoring a try in all of his five starts in the Six Nations.
Can I still get tickets?
At the time of publication, there are still some tickets available for every game on the tour in Australia.
Tickets for the Western Force game in Perth and First Nations and Pasifika XV in Melbourne are available on Ticketmaster.
Every other game, including the three Tests are available on Ticketek.
I don’t want to brave the cold, what pubs are showing the games in Sydney?
When the tour starts, it will be a challenge not to find a pub that is showing the games in the harbour city, but for starters the Marlborough Hotel in Newtown, the Woollahra Hotel and the Sporting Globe on King Street Wharf are showing every game of the tour live.
On Wednesday 30 July Cheers Bar on George Street is hosting a Q and A with former Lions and Wales five-eighth Dan Biggar, who toured Australia in 2013.
On Thursday 31 July, Establishment Bar on George Street is hosting ‘the Good, the Bad and the Rugby’ podcast live with former England World Cup winner and member of the royal family Mike Tindall.
How will this tour impact Australia economically?
The tour is expected to pour $200 million into the Australia economy during the tour, with fans packing out pubs, hotels and restaurants.
Cash-strapped Rugby Australia took out an $80 million loan two years ago and the $100 million the organisation are expected to pocket is crucial to rugby’s financial future in Australia.
As part of a new joint-venture organisational structure the Lions and Australia will share all commercial and government revenue, ticket revenue and broadcast revenue – helping to lift RA’s windfall from about $40 million on the 2013 tour.
