Lions CEO: It is 100% our ambition to return to Australia

Ben Calveley was speaking at the end of nine-game tour in which Andy Farrell’s Lions completed a 2-1 series win over the Australians.

CHAMPIONS: British & Irish Lions captain Maro Itoje lifts the trophy. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile.

Australia will remain as a touring destination for the British & Irish Lions following the successful 2025 series with the Wallabies, Lions CEO Ben Calveley insisted on Sunday.

Calveley was speaking at the end of nine-game tour in which Andy Farrell’s Lions completed a 2-1 series win over the Australians in front of record crowds throughout the five-week trip.

The Tests alone were played out in front of more than 220,000 supporters, including the largest number of travelling fans to leave Irish and British shores with the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground hosting a series-clinching victory eight days ago in front of a Lions Test record crowd of 90,307.

The first and final Tests were both sold out with 52,000 in Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium and 80,013 at Sydney’s Accor Stadium to see the Wallabies salvage some pride with a 22-12 victory on a stormy night that saw the second half interrupted by a 37-minute delay for lightning strikes in the area.

It all added up to a tour bringing in record profits for both the Lions and Rugby Australia with Calveley describing revenues set to be “significantly higher than anything we've seen in the past”.

All of which is a compelling argument for Australia to remain in the Lions rotation every 12 years amid suggestions from some quarters that other countries such as France and Argentina would make for more worthy opponents.

Farrell repeated his assertion on Saturday that such talk was “insulting” to Australian rugby and the following day the chief executive was unequivocal that the Lions would return in 2037.

“I would absolutely envisage returning to Australia,” Calveley said.

“Just to be very clear, I know there's been loads of speculation about whether that would be the case or not, but we've had a wonderful tour here, and it is 100% our ambition to return, and we would want the next one to be bigger and better than this one.”