Painful 2-1 loss: 2001 Lions
The British and Irish Lions will play Test matches in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney when they tour Australia.
The Lions, featuring the best players from England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland, will take on Australia in Brisbane on June 22, Melbourne on June 29 and Sydney on July 6.
The Lions visit Australia once every 12 years with the Wallabies winning the last series Down Under in 2001 by two Tests to one.
On the 2013 Tour, the Lions will play in six Australian cities, kicking off against Super Rugby franchise Western Force in Perth on June 5.
The Lions will also take on Australia's other four Super 15 teams - the Reds in Brisbane on June 8, the the Waratahs in Sydney on June 15, the Brumbies in Canberra on June 18 and the Melbourne Rebels in Melbourne on June 25.
There will also be a match against a combined NSW-Queensland Country line-up in Newcastle on June 12.
"The Lions tour here in 2001 was an extraordinary event and one which provided significant economic benefit to those cities which hosted major matches," ARU Managing Director John O'Neill said.
"More than 8000 Lions supporters came to Australia from the UK and Ireland on official tour packages and many more thousands made their own way here.
"Four years ago in South Africa there were said to be 40,000 Lions fans that made the trek there to support their team.
"A Lions Tour is a massive occasion. Behind the Rugby World Cup it is the most engaging, high-profile and popular event our game can showcase."
Before arriving in Australia, the Lions will play a match in Hong Kong against the Barbarians on June 1.
Comments
Bismo says...
in future, i think the lion's tour should attempt a grand slam of the SH teams.
Posted 10:50 11th January 2012
isthatrightref says...
@ GCP_JONES... a global comp requiring a unified season... geez, why hasn't someone like the IRB thought of that? Great concept, the "other" rugby did something similar back when pay-TV networks were throwing money around like confetti & as I recall it was rather good... until the cash ran out of course.
Posted 20:06 02nd December 2011
GCP_JONES says...
@isthatrightref...
Fair play to Ya Man now your getting the idea. here's another I 'll throw your way instead of international sides why don't we just have twenty club teams playing for Billy Ellis's Trophy. The Top 10 Super 15 and the Top 10 Heineken sides. Now that would be woth getting excited about.
Imagine Toulouse V Crusaders, Leinster v the Reds, Leicester V the Bulls.. WOW
Posted 11:01 02nd December 2011
isthatrightref says...
I've had a Road to Damascus moment & now see that I was looking at the whole RWC Lions idea backwards: they just need to be first to feed, so to speak, rather than gnawing at the carcass.
This would result in them being contenders not pretenders and may even result in my Celtic co-descendants each having a 1/4-scale RWC - a min-Bill, if you will - in their trophy cabinet. No doubt my English co-descendants would claim or sieze the full-size version on the grounds that a mini-Bill would look tacky alongside big-Bill, dusty though he be...
Posted 09:44 02nd December 2011
tombomb says...
like it or not this will probably be the first XV
1.cian healy
2.dylan hartley
3.dan cole
4.courtney lawes
5.richie gray
6.stephen ferris
7.sam warburton capt
8.sean o'brien
9.conor murray
10.jonathan sexton
11.george north
12.jamie roberts
13.manu tuilagi
14.chris ashton
15.ben foden
Posted 00:26 01st December 2011
isthatrightref says...
@ GCP_JONES says... as with your earlier post re scrapping the Lions & Baa-baas, I kind of agree with you: Tonga should never have had to play Canada 4 days after NZ & some of the other T2's also had ridiculously short turn-arounds. IRB has addressed this for 2015, better late than never.
The purpose of a World Cup, in any sport, is firstly to provide a show-piece: no-one would expect NZ to beat Spain in a FIFA comp but the mere fact that you might one day get to play Spain, Brazil, Germany etc is something for kiwi kids who like soccer to aspire to: same goes for kids from say Canada who like rugby: one day if they're good enough they'll get to play SA, England, NZ etc. No-one expects them to win, but it helps "grow the game" as they say.
There have been comps comprising "A" teams from T1 countries & T2 National sides & that's fine, but there's no place for them in a World Cup, be they NZ Maori, England A or some kind of UK/Ireland not-quite-all-stars.
Posted 20:38 30th November 2011
GCP_JONES says...
@ isthatrightref ....
Now your talkin Mate, let them all in, the world cup was by and large dross maybe about 5 good games over the whole tourmanment.
It was mostly one-sided affairs because the so-called tier 2 nations were expected to perform against fully professional teams who had a whole weeks rest not to mention top class facilities its a farce.
Bring in the Maori and the Lions, or do something really brave and invite the natioanl sides of tier 2 nations to compete in the Rugby Championship, six Nations, or any professional competition so they are playing on regular basis.
It was not NH arrogance it you actually bothered to read my posts I siad the whole thing should be scrapped.
Posted 09:54 30th November 2011
isthatrightref says...
@ GCP_JONES says... "If you are going to have Lions teams why not have one playing at the World Cup.If you went through players from the 4 countries that did'nt make the cut I'm sure you would still have a very competative side."
Don't stop there, mate: Isle of Man, Channel Islands, Shetland Islands... in fact, lets have all 20 teams from The Isles (which are at best only half British btw), who needs the polynesians, North Americans, Japanese etc, anyway? It's not as if rugby wants or needs to be a global game is it? Rule Britannia, I say.
PS: I suspect NZ Maori, Australia A & South Africa A would probably be fairly competitive, too, but that would just be silly, wouldn't it?
Posted 21:26 29th November 2011
GCP_JONES says...
before the tour goes ahead then the Lions management should insist that the Super 15 teams are at full strength, and the pricing of the tickets are affordable to every one.Unlike in South Africa where there was second choice teams and empty seats even for the Tests.
2 other points I'd like to make,
Now that the puma's will be playing in the Rugby Championship( it must have taken them ages to come out with that one) will the lions be touring Argentina in the future(don't think so)
If you are going to have Lions teams why not have one playing at the World Cup.If you went through players from the 4 countries that did'nt make the cut I'm sure you would still have a very competative side.
Posted 10:45 29th November 2011
lawynd says...
@Trinats - precisely because I can't predict the future, I talk in terms of current form. Is it a difficult concept to grasp? I sincerely hope not, for your sake!
@Thatllbeme - actually, the one that most of us celebrate is 1997 in South Africa...you know, where the Lions won? Some of us here could probably go back to the 1989 and 1971 tours too, not that it matters. It's a fun event, we enjoy the craic and the build-up to the selection, we poke fun over a beer in pubs up and down the British Isles and commiserate with another beer when the team invariably slips up at some point. It's harking back to amateur days, that's what these tours are about...but you wouldn't understand that.
Posted 10:30 29th November 2011
BDAUSSIE says...
He's the MD Benski... that is generally what they pay them to think about.
Posted 00:22 29th November 2011
isthatrightref says...
GCP_JONES says... The lions tours along with the Barbarians should be scrapped.
I kind of agree with point 1 as on the one hand 12 years between tours to NZ/ SA/ Oz is too long, but shortening the interval is probably impossible given the needs of the various Club comps? I'd love to see the 6N rotating through the 4N/ Pacific on a six-year cycle but don't suppose the Clubs would wear that either?
On point 2, the Baa-baas still have a place, as an end-of-tour fixture v whoever from the 4N/ Pacific attempts a Grand Slam (again, on a 6-year cycle, a little trickier to schedule but not impossible). Perhaps they could also be a vehicle for more contact with the PI/North Pacific with touring sides made up of fringe players & a few ring-ins?
Posted 21:15 28th November 2011
honestpom says...
@ GCP-JONES. Have to agree, why bother with Lions tours now. All the advantages gained from a tour are for the home country in terms of finance etc. The Australian press will be out to hound the tourist with cheap shots at every opportunity, journeymen players will be out to goad the Lions on the pitch, the home players with next to nothing to lose, the Lions with the threat of costly suspension. The big SH three all carp on about what an honour it is to face the Lions and then the provinces, who claim it is one of the greatest matches in their history leave their potential test players out. Why bother ?
For what its worth my team would be
1 Marler
2 Rees ( capt. )
3 Jones
4 Lawes
5 Gray
6 Ferris
7 O'Brien
8 Heaslip
9 Simpson
10 Priestland
11 Bowe
12 Roberts
13 Tuilagi
14 North
15 Kearney
16 Hartley
17 Dorran-Jones
18 Attwood
19 Warburton
20 Care
21 Hook
22 Halfpenney
Posted 21:12 28th November 2011
honestpom says...
@ GCP-JONES. Have to agree, why bother with Lions tours now. All the advantages gained from a tour are for the home country in terms of finance etc. The Australian press will be out to hound the tourist with cheap shots at every opportunity, journeymen players will be out to goad the Lions on the pitch, the home players with next to nothing to lose, the Lions with the threat of costly suspension. The big SH three all carp on about what an honour it is to face the Lions and then the provinces, who claim it is one of the greatest matches in their history leave their potential test players out. Why bother ?
For what its worth my team would be
1 Marler
2 Rees ( capt. )
3 Jones
4 Lawes
5 Gray
6 Ferris
7 O'Brien
8 Heaslip
9 Simpson
10 Priestland
11 Bowe
12 Roberts
13 Tuilagi
14 North
15 Kearney
16 Hartley
17 Dorran-Jones
18 Attwood
19 Warburton
20 Care
21 Hook
22 Halfpenney
Posted 21:12 28th November 2011
whatisthis says...
1. Jenkins
2. Ford
3. Cole
4. Gray
5. O' Connell
6. Ferris
7. Warburton
8. O Brien
9. Youngs
10. Sexton
11. Ashton
12. Roberts
13. O' Driscoll
14. Bowe
15. Halfpenny
16. Healy
17. Best
18. Jones
19. Lawes
20. Heaslip
21. Phillips
22. Priestland
Posted 16:46 28th November 2011
northandsouth says...
As a rugby loving neutral can't wait, love the Lions concept. It looks like their knack for picking the Southern teams in years when they are at their peak (09 Boks, 05 Blacks, 01 Wallabies) may well repeat again, as two years of hardening will have this Oz side about as good as they're likely to get. Fortunately the same is probably true of the best and brightest Lions in waiting - Great Stuff!
Posted 16:38 28th November 2011
GCP_JONES says...
@ 12 Countries...
For the sake of the provinces performances the following season I for one think having fewer Irish men in the LIons squad will be a good thing.
The lions tours along with the Barbarians should be scrapped.
Posted 14:54 28th November 2011
staph_glorious says...
yelloj321,
McSharry - I love it!
For pig-iron's sake, I'll nominate this XV + Reserves:
B Foden; T Bowe, M Tuilagi, J Roberts, C Ashton; J Sexton, D Care; C Healy, R Best, A Jones; B Davies, P O'Connell (c); S Ferris, S Warburton, J Heaslip. Bench: M Rees, G Jenkins, C Lawes, S O'Brien, M Phillips, R Priestland, R Kearney.
Posted 14:48 28th November 2011
leinster_goy says...
@Trinats
fine contribution as per usual, showing a modesty and humbleness of kearnsyesque proportions ;). yeh ok, australia were on the whole better but you can't deny that the margins were small. also interesting that you don't deny grey's thuggery which was decisive in the 2nd test, done at a time when the lions were in front and dominant). let's just hope the results in 2013 are not determined in the same fashion, eh
@yelloj321
i assume this the team the lions will be forced to put out in the midst of a severe injury crisis (jones, jenkins, rees/best/hartley, o'connell, phillips, roberts, hook, bowe, north and halfpenny)? ;)
@12Counties
i predict a 2-1 win for the lions too but it will be very close. with warburton the lions will have someone to really go toe to toe with pocock at the breakdown. also, i don't agree about the question of irish representation. unless english and scottish rugby gets their houses in order over the next 18 months it will most likely be irish/welsh dominated just like last time.
Posted 14:30 28th November 2011
rugby_rockstar says...
Still picking Brian O'Driscoll in 2013? Surely you'd pick Manu Tuilagi or Jonathan Davis.
Posted 14:26 28th November 2011