BRISBANE -- An ANZAC-style invitational team has been given the green light to face the British & Irish Lions in 2025, after Rugby Australia confirmed the dates of the historic tour on Wednesday afternoon.
The Lions will face the Wallabies in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney as part of a nine-game tour that will also see the tourists face a combined Australia-New Zealand outfit in Adelaide the week before the first Test.
Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan last year first flagged the idea of reviving a joint Australia-New Zealand team -- the last time such a team was formed was in 1989 -- to face the Lions and while interest from New Zealand Rugby was originally lukewarm, it appears the concept has got the go ahead because no All Blacks squad members will be made available.
With New Zealand set to face France in a three-Test series during the same international window, it is expected that All Blacks who are instead playing in Japanese rugby or elsewhere, and therefore not eligible for Test selection, will instead be targeted to join the invitational team.
Wallabies coach Eddie Jones also made it clear he wouldn't be concerning himself with the fixture, with only limited players from his 2025 squad likely to be made available for the invitational team.
"Yeah, there won't be any from me, mate," Jones said when asked if he would be offering any input for the team.
Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh unsurprisingly took a more positive view of the match, suggesting Australian rugby had to innovate in situations where it was possible.
"We need to think about creative we can get in terms of creating content," Waugh explained. "We have three really good cities hosting the Lions Tests but Adelaide is a great venue as well, so how do you give Adelaide that opportunity.
"It's really good timing as well, it's a week out from the first Test and depending on how we time it with what the Wallabies preparation is, it would be a really good opportunity for some of the guys who may look like not playing in the Test match, to actually get a run against the Lions, similar to Australia A back in 2001.
"Then you add some international spice to it, to make it a really exciting game."
Waugh did acknowledge that frontline New Zealand players would also not be available for the match, but he is confident that it would still be an attractive opportunity for former All Blacks or other Kiwis based overseas, so long as conversations with their clubs were opened early.
"I think the way the scheduling works, it won't be players who are currently in the All Blacks because they have the French that weekend," Waugh said.
"But if you think about the profile of some of the current All Blacks who are playing today but may not be playing in 25, you could lure them back to play a game at Adelaide Oval in front of a full house against the Lions, it could be a really exciting opportunity, not only for them but also for rugby.
"So you just front-foot it and have conversations nice and early, and make sure it works for everyone. You make sure you have insurance cover and everything else for the players, and that it works for the clubs as well. We are cognisant of that and we want to make it a really strong team.
Waugh also hinted that invitations could even be extended to players from other countries.
"It is Australia and New Zealand but you may add additional international flavour to it if you get a world class player out of South Africa who wants to get involved, it is how do we build the best possible team to play against the Lions?"
The Lions will also face all five Australian Super Rugby franchises despite previous concerns one or two might miss out, with all but Melbourne Rebels' fixture against the tourists set to take place before the three-Test series gets underway.
Western Force will host the opening match of the tour in Perth on Jun. 28, with the Lions then set to face the Reds, Waratahs and Brumbies before the historic match in Adelaide.
The Lions last visited Australia in 2013, recording a 2-1 series victory over the Wallabies after winning the first and third Tests in Brisbane and Sydney respectively.
That series defeat brought down the curtain on Robbie Deans' five-year tenure as Wallabies coach and gave the Lions their first series win since 1997. In 2021, the Lions were beaten 2-1 by the Springboks in South Africa on their most recent tour.
"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," Ben Calveley, CEO of The British & Irish Lions, 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."
While the Wallabies and coach Eddie Jones have the far more immediate task of arresting a 0-2 game start to their 2023 season when they face the All Blacks in the Bledisloe Cup, and then the Rugby World Cup, to consider, the opportunity to face the Lions remains one of the great lures for an Australian rugby player.
RA has already signed up key Wallabies Taniela Tupou, Nic White, Len Ikitau, Allan Alaalatoa, James Slipper, Nick Frost, Fraser McReight and Tate McDermott, as well as code-hopper Joseph Suaali'i, for the tour, with the focus now set to shift to impressive youngsters Mark Nawaqanitawase, Max Jorgensen and Carter Gordon.
While the combined Australia-New Zealand team might not have as many headline names as originally envisaged, it is possible that Richie Mo'unga, who begins a three-year deal with Toshiba in Japan after this year's World Cup, could be among the New Zealanders targeted for the game in Adelaide.
Although Jones was not enthusiastic about the invitational team and also lamented the potential loss of an Australia A fixture, he said he would relish the chance to coach against the Lions and, despite previous speculation, had never been interested in coaching the tourists himself.
"I think the Lions tour in itself is such a great event," Jones said. "It's a real drama. You get the 30-40,000 from the Northern Hemisphere and they set out on this rugby party across Australia. It's really something that people who don't follow rugby can get involved in it because there's the whole story of the warm-up matches, the Test matches and they're always tight, close affairs and the standard is always really high because you've got the best players from the Northern Hemisphere playing against Australia.
"It's a great opportunity for rugby to encourage new supports to come into the game."
2025 LIONS TOUR SCHEDULE
28 June: Lions vs. Western Force, Optus Stadium, Perth
2 July: Lions vs. Queensland Reds, Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
5 July: Lions vs. New South Wales Waratahs, Allianz Stadium, Sydney
9 July: Lions vs. ACT Brumbies, GIO Stadium, Canberra
12 July: Lions vs. Invitational AU & NZ XV, Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
19 July: Lions vs. Wallabies, Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
22 July: Lions vs. Melbourne Rebels, Marvel Stadium, Melbourne
26 July: Lions vs. Wallabies, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
2 August: Lions vs. Wallabies, Accor Stadium, Sydney