British & Irish Lions tour to Australia fixtures released
FIXTURES ANNOUNCED: British & Irish Lions look set for a record-breaking 2025 tour to Australia following Wednesday’s release of a nine-match schedule and a potential sell-out crowd of 100,000 for the second Test against the Wallabies at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The British & Irish Lions look set for a record-breaking 2025 tour to Australia following Wednesday’s release of a nine-match schedule and a potential sell-out crowd of 100,000 for the second Test against the Wallabies at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
In a joint announcement by the Lions and Rugby Australia on Wednesday morning, the 2025 tour itinerary features a nine-match schedule including Test matches against the Wallabies, currently coached by Eddie Jones, in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney on July 19, July 26 and August 2 respectively.
The tour will also feature a pre-first Test fixture against a combined Australian and New Zealand invitational team at the Adelaide Oval on July 12. All the other tour games will be against Australian Super Rugby Pacific teams.
The Lions, combining the best players from Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales, will return to Australia for the first time since 2013 when Warren Gatland was head coach of a touring party captained by Sam Warburton that won the Test series 2-1. Warburton’s men won the opening Test 23-21 in Brisbane, before the Wallabies levelled the series with a 16-15 win in Melbourne yet with Warburton injured for the decider, the Lions, led by Alun Wyn Jones, secured the series with an emphatic 41-15 third Test win in Sydney.
As was the case in 2013, the Lions will open their tour on Australian soil in Perth against the Western Force on Saturday, June 28, 2025, before meeting the Queensland Reds, the NSW Waratahs, and the ACT Brumbies ahead of the Invitational AU & NZ clash in Adelaide.
The first Test will mark a return to Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium, home of the Reds, followed by the final midweek fixture, against Melbourne Rebels, in Marvel Stadium on Tuesday, July 22.
The Lions will remain in Melbourne for second Test the following Saturday at the iconic MCG, where a potential 100,000 sell-out crowd would be a record for a British & Irish Lions Test and one of the highest attendances in rugby history.
The final Test will be at the 80,000-plus capacity Accor Stadium in Sydney Olympic Park on Saturday August 2.
In announcing the 2025 schedule, the Lions also emphasised their “strong partnership and a common goal” with Premiership Rugby and the United Rugby Championship that will result in the tourists having a two-week preparation period and pre-tour warm-up fixture, to be announced at a later stage.
“We are delighted to announce the Tour schedule today as we look ahead to what is to be one of the most eagerly anticipated Series in history,” British & Irish Lions chief executive Ben Calveley said.
I want to take the opportunity to thank Rugby Australia for the strong level of collaboration in planning for this tour and we look forward to continuing to work with them over the next two years. I would also like to thank Premiership Rugby and the United Rugby Championship, whose cooperation has resulted in the longest preparation period for a tour in recent history, which gives us the best possible chance of a Series victory. We look forward to continuing to work with our hosts and our partners to create one of the best tours ever.
“Our ambition is to … make this upcoming tour the greatest Lions tour ever, positioning it as the major global sporting event of 2025.” Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh added: “The British & Irish Lions Tour is one of the great sporting festivals – it is a real landmark of Australian and world sport. Rugby Australia is looking forward to welcoming back the Lions for the first time in 12 years – as well as the tens of thousands of Lions fans from the northern hemisphere.
“It is an exciting fixture of matches all around the country with the Lions taking on our Super Rugby franchises, three massive Test matches, and a marquee match in Adelaide featuring a combined invitational Australia-New Zealand side.”
Lions vs Western Force, Perth (Optus Stadium)
Lions vs Queensland Reds, Brisbane (Suncorp Stadium)
, Lions vs NSW Waratahs, Sydney (Allianz Stadium)
Lions vs ACT Brumbies, Canberra (GIO Stadium)
Lions vs Invitational AU & NZ, Adelaide (Adelaide Oval)
- 1st Test, Lions vs Wallabies, Brisbane (Suncorp Stadium)
Lions vs Melbourne Rebels, Melbourne (Marvel Stadium)
- 2nd Test, Lions vs Wallabies, Melbourne (Melbourne Cricket Ground/MCG)
- 3rd Test, Lions vs Wallabies, Sydney (Accor Stadium)
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