British and Irish Lions Tour of Australia 2025
28 June – 2 August 2025
For the first time in 12 years, The British & Irish Lions Tour will return to Australia for a five-week festival of rugby: 28 June – 2 August 2025.
The 2025 British & Irish Lions tour includes nine high-profile rugby union games played across six Australian cities with tour matches in Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide and Melbourne and three blockbuster Test Matches against the Wallabies, Australian national rugby union team being played in Brisbane (19 July 2025), Melbourne (26 July 2025) and Sydney (2 August 2025).
In a tradition started in 1888, the British & Irish Lions team (a rugby union side made up of players from the English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh national rugby union teams) now tour to the Southern Hemisphere every four years (rotating between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa).
Australia shares a long history with the British & Irish Lions Tour, with their first-ever rugby test match played against a British Isles side on the Lions’ first tour of Australia in 1889. The Lions last played in Australia in 2013.
In 2025, the British and Irish Lions tour will open with the six tour matches as the Lions take on five of Australia’s Super Rugby teams (Western Force – Perth, 28 June; Queensland Reds – Brisbane, 2 July; New South Wales Waratahs – Sydney, 5 July, ACT Brumbies – Canberra, 9 July and the Melbourne Rebels – Melbourne, 22 July) and a sixth match (Adelaide, 12 July) against an invitational side made up of talented Australian and New Zealand rugby union players – the first combination side of its kind since 1989
A highlight on many rugby union fans’ calendars, the British & Irish Lions Tour is anticipated to draw up to 40,000 international spectators from far and wide. We therefore encourage loyal Lions supporters to get in early to secure their preferred arrangements for their 2025 British & Irish Lions Tour Australian adventures.
This time of year pair perfectly with so many fabulous experiences Down Under, the Southern Hemisphere Winter Months are a perfect time to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef or swim with gentle whale sharks and humpback whales on Australia’s “other” great reef, stargaze in the Outback – or from a hot tub in New Zealand, ski untracked powder in New Zealand’s spectacular Southern Alps or relax on footprint free powdery white beaches in Fiji.
Rugby, tennis, golf, sailing, fishing and more: whatever your passions, the Southern Crossings Travel Design team can curate tailored journeys across Australia, New Zealand and Fiji that connect visitors to the destinations through their interests.
Image: Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, courtesy of Tourism Australia
