British & Irish Lions chief ‘open’ to ‘other countries’ conversation amid cries for Argentina tour

British and Irish Lions chief executive, Ben Calveley, has revealed there would be interest in future games against new teams, but insists there are no plans to change the three traditional tours.

The famous touring side have historically only toured New Zealand, South Africa and Australia since they were formed, but there have been growing calls for the Lions to venture to both France and Argentina in recent times. The latter has only gathered momentum in the past few days, too, following Los Pumas’ 28-24 victory in Dublin.

Reports also emerged in March that the Lions and the French Rugby Union were in ‘advanced talks’ over a possible Test match for both the women’s, who will undergo their first ever tour, and the men’s sides in 2027 and 2029, respectively. It was also suggested that this was a viable option for both parties.

The Lions have also played the Barbarians and Japan in the past.

Lions chief opens up on ‘interest’ in new teams

There is clearly a growing interest for the Lions to play against new opposition too. Friday’s clash against Los Pumas posted an official sell-out crowd of 51,700 – even amid fears over ticket prices – and that could open the door for more pre-tour matches against new opponents.

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“There are different teams around the world that we might be interested in playing against in future,” said Calveley. “Traditionally, that’s been consigned to a pre-tour element, so we’ll probably focus on that.”

He added: “We’re also interested when we go away on tour to see if we can bring in other countries like Japan and Fiji to feature in those games as we build up to the Test element.”

But, he later insisted they would still only look to tour the traditional three nations

“We’re open and we’re flexible, but right now there are no plans to change the rotation of the tour structure.”

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