There has been little cheer for rugby in Australia in recent years, but the prospect of a Lions tour is always enough for the glass-half-empty brigade to imagine it full to the point of overflowing.
The itinerary for the nine-match tour in 2025 was announced last week. It will be self-contained with no stop-off en route by the tourists to visit one of the South Seas islands, or a start in Hong Kong as they did before their last trip to Australia in 2013.
That tour was hugely significant for the Lions whose future was coming under threat following the unsuccessful and undignified visit to Australia in 2001, the humbling in New Zealand four years later and a third straight series loss in South Africa in 2009.
The series was 1-1 going into the decider in Sydney. Head coach Warren Gatland sent the Emerald Isle into uproar when he dropped Brian O'Driscoll, vindicated when the Lions roared home 41-16 with the Ireland centre's replacement, Jamie Roberts, scoring the last of their four tries.
It was Gatland's first tour as head coach having been in charge of the forwards in 2009. He led the Lions to New Zealand in 2017 and South Africa two years ago, but Ireland's Andy Farrell is the favourite to be appointed for Australia.
The Lions will start, as usual, in Perth where they will face Western Force at the end of June. Unlike previous trips, they will be at full strength because the Premiership clubs have brought forward the date of their play-off final to ensure all the squad will take a full part in training before departure.
The Reds and Waratahs follow in Brisbane and Sydney respectively before the relatively short trip to face the Brumbies in Canberra.
The final Saturday match before the Test series is against an invitational Australian and New Zealand XV – shades of the Anzac match at the end of the 1989 tour – at Adelaide Oval, a venue not often used for rugby but which staged two matches in the 2003 World Cup.
All Blacks will not be made available to the invitational side because of a tour to France. The targets being New Zealand internationals who are earning their livings elsewhere and so not available for Test selection, such as those in Japan.
“We need to be creative in creating content,” said Phil Waugh, Rugby Australia's chief executive. “We have three really good cities holding the Tests, but Adelaide is a great venue also and it is about giving them an opportunity.
“It is really good timing, a week out from the first Test, and depending on how we time it with the Wallabies' preparation, it would be a good opportunity for some of the guys who may not look like playing in the Test match to get a run against the Lions.”
The three Tests will be played in the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, a repeat of 2013, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which can hold 100,000 spectators, and the Accor Stadium in Sydney, the venue for the 2003 World Cup final. The final midweek match will be played in between the first two Tests against the Rebels in Melbourne, another repeat of 12 years ago when the Australian side was captained by Wales No.8 Gareth Delve.
“A Lions tour is special because it is still so rare,” said Martin Johnson, who captained the tourists to victory in South Africa in 1997. “It is magical and mythical in the world of rugby and the world of sport.”
Australia's head coach, Eddie Jones, below, was linked with the Lions when hewasinchargeof England from 2015, but he never seemed excited by the prospect and will get more out of plotting against them having first coached Australia after the 2001 tour.
“A Lions tour is a great event,” he said. “It's real drama. You get 30 or 40,000 fans coming over from the northern hemisphere and they set out on this rugby party across Australia. It is something that people who do not follow rugby can get involved in.”
It will be the Lions fourth full tour of Australia who were previously add-ons to visits to New Zealand. The other three series have all gone down to the final Test, but 2013 was the first when the team that had won the opener took the rubber.
From fighting for their survival, the Lions are looking to position themselves as one of sport's leading brands, spurred on by a huge contingent of travelling supporters.
“The British and Irish Lions have never been stronger,” said chief executive, Ben Calveley. “Our ambition is to build upon this and make the upcoming tour the greatest Lions one ever, positioning it as the major global sporting event of 2025.
“I would like to thank Premiership Rugby and the United Rugby Championship whose co-operation has resulted in the longest preparation period for a tour in recent history. It gives us the best possible chance of a series victory.”
There was speculation earlier this year that one of the midweek fixtures would be given to a combined team from Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and Papua New Guinea amid concerns about some of the one-sided warm-ups in 2013. Talks were held with Oceania Rugby but nothing materialised.
There was also a drive from the Western Australia and South Australia governments to hold a Test at the expense of Queensland. It failed, but attention will now turn to the 2027 World Cup.
Sydney has always been the city chosen for the biggest matches, but with the MCG's 100,000 capacity, the Victorian government is making a pitch to stage the final in four years.
World Rugby and Rugby Australia is running a bid process and is scheduled to announce all the venues at the end of this year's tournament in France.
The record World Cup attendance is 89,267 for a group match between Ireland and Romania at Wembley in 2015. The MCG is Australia's only stadium capable of trumping that.
The 2025 Lions fixtures
Saturday June 28: v Western Force, Optus Stadium, Perth
Wednesday July 2: v Queensland Reds, Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Saturday July 5: v New South Wales Waratahs, Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Wednesday July 9: v ACT Brumbies, GIO Stadium, Canberra
Saturday July 12: v Invitational Australia & NZ XV, Adelaide Oval
Saturday July 19: First Test, Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Tuesday July 22: v Melbourne Rebels, Marvel Stadium, Melbourne
Saturday July 26: Second Test, Melbourne Cricket Ground
Saturday August 2: Third Test, Accor Stadium, Sydney
