Lions 2025

The tourists were supposed to play the Melbourne Rebels on 22 July, but the Super Rugby team have gone into administration since the fixtures were announced in July 2023.

Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh said he hoped to attract box-office names for the fixture.

"We have some great talent with First Nations heritage," he told the Sydney Morning Herald., external "So it was a matter of how do we will pull those ideas together to make a very special game in a massive tour?

"The preference will be to have Australian-eligible players of Pacific and First Nations backgrounds, and high-profile players to drive a high level of interest."

Veteran back Kurtley Beale, who played against the Lions in 2013 and is currently recovering from an Achilles tendon injury, Fijian-born Marika Koroibete, who missed out on Wallabies selection this autumn, and fellow wing Dylan Pietsch, whose artwork will feature on the Australia jersey during the tour,, external could all be contenders to play.

Waugh has also confirmed he is pursuing New Zealand internationals who are playing their club rugby abroad, and are therefore ineligible for All Black selection, for a trans-Tasman 'Anzac' team, combining both Australian and Kiwi players, who play the Lions on 12 July.

While Waugh did not specify names, Richie Mo'unga and Shannon Frizell, who both started the 2023 Rugby World Cup final for New Zealand, are in Test exile as they ply their trade in Japan.

Scrum-half Aaron Smith, who retired from international rugby after the tournament, is also playing in the country’s Rugby League One.

"There are conversations beginning," Waugh said. "We certainly want to get some high-profile Kiwi players, and given France are in New Zealand then, the sensible place to test some conversations would be the New Zealand players who are offshore. We are starting to engage with some clubs and players."

Head coach Andy Farrell's staff draws most heavily from the Ireland set-up that he has left on secondment to lead the tourists.

Simon Easterby, who served as Ireland's interim head coach for this year's Six Nations, is joined by attack guru Andrew Goodman and scrum specialist John Fogarty.

There is no Welsh representation among the coaching staff however with Farrell opting against hiring Neil Jenkins, who has aided the Lions on four previous tours as a kicking coach.

It is the first time since 2001, when New Zealander Graham Henry took a break from his job with Wales to lead the Lions in Australia, that there is no Welshman among the Lions coaches.

Shaun Edwards, who played rugby league alongside Farrell at Wigan and most recently oversaw defence for France's victorious Six Nations campaign, had previously said he would "swim" to Australia to be part of the Lions tour., external

However, he is instead committed to France, who tour New Zealand for a three-Test series this summer.

The Lions are reportedly exploring the possibility of playing warm-up matches against France before their women's and men's side tour New Zealand in 2027 and 2029., external

The Lions have faced France only once before, crossing the Channel for a 1989 fixture that commemorated the bicentenary of the French Revolution.

"I saw that speculation in the press this morning and it is probably not right for me to comment on specific details," Lions chief executive Ben Calveley told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"But what I would say is that we the Lions have a really strong relationship with the countries we have toured historically, but we are very interested in broadening that footprint and building a relationship in new territories.

"That's part of the reason why we are playing Argentina this time around, we played against Japan before we toured South Africa four years ago.

"So these sorts of opportunities are really interesting to us."