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2025 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia

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2025 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia
Date28 June – 2 August 2025
Coach(es)Andy Farrell
Tour captain(s)Maro Itoje
Opponent
P W D L
 Australia
Tour chronology
Previous tourSouth Africa 2021
Next tourNew Zealand 2029

The 2025 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia, known for sponsorship reasons as the Qatar Airways Lions Men's Series,[1] is an international rugby union tour scheduled to take place in Australia between June and August 2025. The British & Irish Lions, a team selected from players eligible to represent England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, are scheduled to play a three-match test series against Australia, as well as matches against Australia's four Super Rugby franchises, one against an invitational team made up of players from Australia and New Zealand, and another match against a team made up of players with First Nations and Pasifika origin. Ireland coach Andy Farrell was appointed as the Lions' head coach for the tour in January 2024.

Schedule

[edit]

The fixtures for the tour were announced on 19 July 2023.[2] The tour will culminate with a three-match test series between the Lions and the Australia, and will also feature matches against Australia's five Super Rugby franchises. The Lions will open the tour with matches against the Western Force, Queensland Reds, New South Wales Waratahs and ACT Brumbies; they were scheduled to face the Melbourne Rebels in the week between the first and second tests, but the Rebels were disbanded at the end of the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season after going into administration earlier in the year.[3] A match against a team of players with indigenous Australian and Pacific Islander heritage was proposed in its place in November 2024[4] and confirmed in March 2025.[5] The week before the first test, the Lions will play a match in Adelaide against an invitational team of players from Australia and New Zealand.[2][6] A warm-up match against Argentina was played at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on 20 June 2025. It was the Lions' first ever match in Ireland.[7]

Date Home team Score Away team Venue Details
Fri 20 June British & Irish Lions 24–28 Argentina Aviva Stadium, Dublin Match details
Sat 28 June Western Force v British & Irish Lions Perth Stadium, Perth Match details
Wed 2 July Queensland Reds v British & Irish Lions Lang Park, Brisbane Match details
Sat 5 July New South Wales Waratahs v British & Irish Lions Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney Match details
Wed 9 July ACT Brumbies v British & Irish Lions Canberra Stadium, Canberra Match details
Sat 12 July Invitational AU & NZ v British & Irish Lions Adelaide Oval, Adelaide Match details
Sat 19 July Australia v British & Irish Lions Lang Park, Brisbane Match details
Tue 22 July First Nations & Pasifika XV v British & Irish Lions Docklands Stadium, Melbourne Match details
Sat 26 July Australia v British & Irish Lions Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Match details
Sat 2 August Australia v British & Irish Lions Stadium Australia, Sydney Match details

Venues

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Sydney Melbourne
Sydney Football Stadium Stadium Australia Melbourne Cricket Ground Docklands Stadium
Capacity: 42,500[8] Capacity: 83,500[9] Capacity: 100,024[10] Capacity: 56,347[11]
Brisbane
Adelaide
Lang Park Adelaide Oval
Capacity: 52,500[12] Capacity: 53,500[13]
Perth Canberra
Perth Stadium Canberra Stadium
Capacity: 60,000[14] Capacity: 25,000[15]

Squad

[edit]

Lions Chair and tour manager Ieuan Evans announced a 38-player squad on 8 May 2025 at the The O2 Arena in London. In a first for the Lions, the squad was announced in front of 2,000 fans.[16][17]

The squad is made up of 15 players from Ireland, 13 from England, 8 from Scotland and 2 from Wales.

English player Maro Itoje was named as the 47th Lions captain, becoming the second English player to lead the side in the professional era and the first since Martin Johnson in 2001.[18]

On 9 June, Zander Fagerson withdrew from the squad ahead of the squad meet-up due to a calf injury and was replaced by Finlay Bealham.[19]

Due to wider squad availability during the respective domestic final weeks, England's Jamie George and Asher Opoku-Fordjour travelled with squad for their Portugal training camp to train with the squad.[20]

On 17 June, England's Jack van Poortvliet joined up with the wider squad as scrum-half cover ahead of the Argentina test match on 20 June.[21]

Notes: Ages listed are as of the first tour match on 20 June against Argentina. Bold denotes that the player was selected for a previous Lions squad. Italic denotes a player that withdrew from the squad following selection.

Player Position Date of birth (age) National team Club/­province National caps
(Lions caps) 		Notes
Luke Cowan-Dickie Hooker (1993-06-20)20 June 1993 (aged 32) England England England Sale Sharks 49 (3)
Rónan Kelleher Hooker (1998-01-14)14 January 1998 (aged 27) Ireland Ireland Ireland Leinster 38
Dan Sheehan Hooker (1998-09-17)17 September 1998 (aged 26) Ireland Ireland Ireland Leinster 32
Finlay Bealham Prop (1991-10-09)9 October 1991 (aged 33) Ireland Ireland Ireland Connacht 51 Replaced Zander Fagerson
Zander Fagerson Prop (1996-01-19)19 January 1996 (aged 29) Scotland Scotland Scotland Glasgow Warriors 75 Withdrew due to injury sustained before tour
Tadhg Furlong Prop (1992-11-14)14 November 1992 (aged 32) Ireland Ireland Ireland Leinster 79 (6)
Ellis Genge Prop (1995-02-16)16 February 1995 (aged 30) England England England Bristol Bears 71
Andrew Porter Prop (1996-01-16)16 January 1996 (aged 29) Ireland Ireland Ireland Leinster 75
Pierre Schoeman Prop (1994-05-07)7 May 1994 (aged 31) Scotland Scotland Scotland Edinburgh 42
Will Stuart Prop (1996-07-12)12 July 1996 (aged 28) England England England Bath 50
Tadhg Beirne Second row (1992-01-08)8 January 1992 (aged 33) Ireland Ireland Ireland Munster 61 (2)
Ollie Chessum Second row (2000-09-06)6 September 2000 (aged 24) England England England Leicester Tigers 28
Scott Cummings Second row (1996-12-03)3 December 1996 (aged 28) Scotland Scotland Scotland Glasgow Warriors 42
Maro Itoje (c) Second row (1994-10-28)28 October 1994 (aged 30) England England England Saracens 93 (6)
Joe McCarthy Second row (2001-03-26)26 March 2001 (aged 24) Ireland Ireland Ireland Leinster 19
James Ryan Second row (1996-07-24)24 July 1996 (aged 28) Ireland Ireland Ireland Leinster 72
Jack Conan Back row (1992-07-29)29 July 1992 (aged 32) Ireland Ireland Ireland Leinster 51 (3)
Tom Curry Back row (1998-06-15)15 June 1998 (aged 27) England England England Sale Sharks 61 (3)
Ben Earl Back row (1998-01-07)7 January 1998 (aged 27) England England England Saracens 42
Jac Morgan Back row (2000-01-21)21 January 2000 (aged 25) Wales Wales Wales Ospreys 23
Henry Pollock Back row (2005-01-14)14 January 2005 (aged 20) England England England Northampton Saints 1
Josh van der Flier Back row (1993-04-25)25 April 1993 (aged 32) Ireland Ireland Ireland Leinster 73
Jamison Gibson-Park Scrum-half (1992-02-23)23 February 1992 (aged 33) Ireland Ireland Ireland Leinster 43
Alex Mitchell Scrum-half (1997-05-25)25 May 1997 (aged 28) England England England Northampton Saints 23
Tomos Williams Scrum-half (1995-01-01)1 January 1995 (aged 30) Wales Wales England Gloucester 65
Finn Russell Fly-half (1992-09-23)23 September 1992 (aged 32) Scotland Scotland England Bath 87 (1)
Fin Smith Fly-half (2002-05-11)11 May 2002 (aged 23) England England England Northampton Saints 11
Marcus Smith Fly-half (1999-02-14)14 February 1999 (aged 26) England England England Harlequins 44
Bundee Aki Centre (1990-04-07)7 April 1990 (aged 35) Ireland Ireland Ireland Connacht 65 (1)
Huw Jones Centre (1993-12-17)17 December 1993 (aged 31) Scotland Scotland Scotland Glasgow Warriors 58
Garry Ringrose Centre (1995-01-26)26 January 1995 (aged 30) Ireland Ireland Ireland Leinster 67
Sione Tuipulotu Centre (1997-02-12)12 February 1997 (aged 28) Scotland Scotland Scotland Glasgow Warriors 30
Tommy Freeman Wing (2001-03-05)5 March 2001 (aged 24) England England England Northampton Saints 21
Mack Hansen Wing (1998-03-27)27 March 1998 (aged 27) Ireland Ireland Ireland Connacht 28
James Lowe Wing (1992-07-08)8 July 1992 (aged 32) Ireland Ireland Ireland Leinster 40
Duhan van der Merwe Wing (1995-06-04)4 June 1995 (aged 30) Scotland Scotland Scotland Edinburgh 49 (3)
Elliot Daly Full back (1992-10-08)8 October 1992 (aged 32) England England England Saracens 73 (5)
Hugo Keenan Full back (1996-06-18)18 June 1996 (aged 29) Ireland Ireland Ireland Leinster 46
Blair Kinghorn Full back (1997-01-18)18 January 1997 (aged 28) Scotland Scotland France Toulouse 60

Management and staff

[edit]

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell was appointed as the Lions' head coach for the tour in January 2024. He succeeded former Wales head coach Warren Gatland, who had led the team on their previous three tours. Farrell was one of Gatland's assistant coaches on the 2013 tour to Australia and 2017 tour to New Zealand.[22][23]

Farrell announced his five assistant coaches on 26 March 2025.[24] Three of the coaches selected worked under Farrell at Ireland – defence coach Simon Easterby, scrum coach John Fogarty and attack coach Andrew Goodman.[25] Forwards coach John Dalziel was selected from Scotland, whilst Richard Wigglesworth (who played under Farrell at Saracens) was selected from England. For all five assistant coaches, this would be their first involvement on a Lions tour, although Easterby had toured as a player in 2005.[26] It would also be the first tour since 2001 without any representation from Wales among the coaches.[27]

On 17 April, Johnny Sexton was added to the coaching staff.[28] Sexton, who toured with the Lions as a player in 2013 and 2017, has been a coach with Ireland since 2024.

Management
Role Name
Chairman / Tour Manager Wales Ieuan Evans
Chief Executive England Ben Calveley
General Manager Australia David Nucifora
Coaches
Role Name Union / Club
Head Coach England Andy Farrell  Ireland
Assistant Coach Scotland John Dalziel  Scotland
Assistant Coach Ireland Simon Easterby  Ireland
Assistant Coach Ireland John Fogarty  Ireland
Assistant Coach New Zealand Andrew Goodman  Ireland
Assistant Coach Ireland Johnny Sexton  Ireland
Assistant Coach England Richard Wigglesworth  England
Performance staff
Head of Athletic Performance Aled Walters  Ireland
Head of Analysis Vinny Hamond  Ireland
Analyst Rhodri Bown  Wales
Head of Medical Dr Ciaran Cosgrave  Ireland
Team Doctor Dr Geoff Davies  Wales
Physiotherapist Keith Fox  Ireland
Physiotherapist John Miles  Wales
Soft-tissue Specialist Susie Gill  Wales
Kit Manager Mark Beels  Scotland
Operations
Director of Operations Charlotte Gibbons  England
Head of Communications Jonny Fordham England Premiership Rugby

Matches

[edit]

British & Irish Lions v Argentina

[edit]
20 June 2025
20:00 IST (UTC+01)
British & Irish Lions24–28 Argentina
Try: Aki 18' c
Penalty try 45'
Beirne 52' c
Con: F. Smith (2/2) 19', 53'
Pen: F. Smith (1/1) 9'		ReportTry: Mendy 11' m
Albornoz 40' c
Cordero 58' c
Con: Albornoz (2/3) 40+1', 53'
Pen: Albornoz (3/3) 4', 25', 39'
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Attendance: 51,700
Referee: James Doleman (New Zealand)[29]

Western Force v British & Irish Lions

[edit]

Queensland Reds v British & Irish Lions

[edit]

New South Wales Waratahs v British & Irish Lions

[edit]

ACT Brumbies v British & Irish Lions

[edit]

Invitational AU & NZ v British & Irish Lions

[edit]

Australia v British & Irish Lions (first test)

[edit]

First Nations & Pasifika XV v British & Irish Lions

[edit]

Australia v British & Irish Lions (second test)

[edit]

Australia v British & Irish Lions (third test)

[edit]

Broadcasting rights

[edit]
Territory Rights holder Ref.
 Australia
[33]
 New Zealand
[34]
[35][36]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ All Australia matches are televised free-to-air on Nine.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Islam, Arif (26 July 2024). "Qatar Airways flies in as title partner for British and Irish Lions' 2025 Australia tour".
  2. ^ a b Jones, Chris (19 July 2023). "British and Irish Lions to play combined New Zealand-Australia XV on 2025 tour". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  3. ^ "Melbourne Rebels to be dropped from Super Rugby after Rugby Australia reject rescue deal". Sky Sports. 30 May 2024. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  4. ^ "Lions to face indigenous-heritage team in Australia". BBC Sport. 19 November 2024. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
  5. ^ "First Nations & Pasifika XV set for historic match during Lions Series". RugbyPass. 20 March 2025. Retrieved 20 March 2025.
  6. ^ "Rugby Australia revives Anzac XV for 2025 British and Irish Lions tour". ABC News. 19 July 2023. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  7. ^ "British and Irish Lions: Dublin to host match with Argentina ahead of 2025 tour to Australia". BBC Sport. 7 December 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  8. ^ "New $828m Sydney stadium to open with NRL, Wallabies and Matildas games". Guardian Australia. 9 June 2022. Archived from the original on 10 June 2022.
  9. ^ "About Accor Stadium". venuesnsw.com. Venues NSW.
  10. ^ Kowalski, Kuba (31 March 2023). "Australia: The country's largest stadium will get even bigger?". StadiumDB.com.
  11. ^ "Marvel Stadium". austadiums.com.
  12. ^ "Celebrating 20 Years of Suncorp Stadium". populous.com. Populous. 31 May 2023.
  13. ^ "Adelaide Oval". afl.com.au. Australian Football League (AFL).
  14. ^ "Seating Capacity". optusstadium.com.au. Optus Stadium.
  15. ^ "About GIO Stadium Canberra". giostadiumcanberra.com.au. GIO Stadium. 4 March 2017.
  16. ^ "When is The British & Irish Lions squad announcement?". BBC Sport. 1 May 2025. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
  17. ^ "Lions Squad announced for the 2025 Tour to Australia". Brisith and Irish Lions. 8 May 2025. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
  18. ^ "British & Irish Lions: Maro Itoje named captain for Australia tour". ESPN. 8 May 2025. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
  19. ^ Hamilton, Tom (9 June 2025). "Injured Zander Fagerson out of British & Irish Lions squad, Finlay Bealham in". ESPN. Retrieved 9 June 2025.
  20. ^ Morgan, Charlie (8 June 2025). "Lions call up Asher Opoku-Fordjour and Jamie George". The Telegraph. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  21. ^ Baker, Luke (17 June 2025). "England star joins Lions as cover for Argentina clash after injury scare". The Independent. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  22. ^ "Andy Farrell named British and Irish Lions head coach for 2025 tour to Australia". BBC Sport. 11 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  23. ^ "British & Irish Lions Tour: Andy Farrell appoints first backroom staff". ESPN. 28 January 2025. Retrieved 11 February 2025.
  24. ^ "Assistant coaches announced for 2025 Australia tour". British and Irish Lions. 26 March 2025. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  25. ^ Skippers, David (26 March 2025). "Andy Farrell gives his view on the British and Irish Lions assistants and the importance of 'cohesion of the coaching staff'". Planet Rugby. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  26. ^ Latham-Coyle, Harry (26 March 2025). "Who are the British and Irish Lions assistant coaches and why have they been appointed?". The Independent. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  27. ^ "British and Irish Lions announce full coaching team as Welsh coaches miss out". Wales Online. 26 March 2025. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  28. ^ Gault, Matt (17 April 2025). "Sexton to join Farrell's Lions backroom team". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  29. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cameron, Ian (1 May 2025). "Referees for British & Irish Lions series and July Tests confirmed". Rugby Pass. Retrieved 2 May 2025.
  30. ^ Cantillon, Michael (18 June 2025). "British and Irish Lions: Fin Smith and Marcus Smith start vs Argentina in Dublin as Maro Itoje captains for first time". Sky Sports. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
  31. ^ "HEAD COACH ANDY FARRELL NAMES HIS FIRST BRITISH & IRISH LIONS TEAM AHEAD OF 1888 CUP". Lions. 18 June 2025. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
  32. ^ "Lions beaten by Argentina in pre-tour Dublin thriller". BBC. 20 June 2025. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
  33. ^ Robinson, Georgina (23 March 2023). "Nine extends rugby deal as RA plots next chapter". The Sydney Morning Herald. Nine Entertainment. Archived from the original on 29 March 2023.
  34. ^ "Sky secures iconic sports rights". NZX. 13 March 2025. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
  35. ^ "Sky Sports to exclusively show 2025 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia; three Tests and six warm-ups". Sky Sports. Sky Group. 2 November 2023. Archived from the original on 5 November 2023.
  36. ^ McCaskill, Steve (2 November 2023). "Sky Sports secures UK broadcast rights to 2025 Lions tour of Australia". SportsPro. Archived from the original on 12 July 2024.
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