The British & Irish Lions played Australia in front of 90,307 fans at the MCG in Melbourne but was that a record crowd?
The British & Irish Lions 2nd Test against Australia on the 2025 Lions Tour was record breaking but was it the biggest attendance for a Lions Test match?
90,307 fans packed into the stadium to see the Lions come back and beat the Wallabies 29-26 thanks to a last minute try by Irish full-back Hugo Keenan.
Keenan snuck into the corner to secure the win at the death after the Lions were losing all game.
Hosted at the world-famous MCG in Melbourne, also known as the Melbourne Cricket Ground, it saw Andy Farrell’s men play in front of a record-breaking crowd for a Lions game in Australia however fell short of the overall record.
This total saw it unfortunately fall 5,000 short of the record for a Lions Test
What was the previous record?
The record attendance for a British & Irish Lions Test match is around 95,000 set in the first Test of the 1955 tour to South Africa.
That game took place at Ellis Park in Johannesburg and the official attendance number is slightly unverified due to the period in which it took place.
The 2nd Test on the 2025 tour fell short of that total, likely due to the seats reserved in the stadium for MCG members, most of whom will be more inclined to cricket of AFL.
The MCG is the 11th biggest stadium in the world with a capacity of 100,024 when full. The stadium rarely sees a full crowd save for the AFL Aussie Rules Grand Final.
Read more: Where can I watch the British & Irish Lions?
That 90,307 does, however, surpass the previous record for a Lions Test in Australia which was set in 2001.
That was a crowd of 84,188 at Stadium Australia, now known as the Accor Stadium, which will host the third and final Test of this year’s series.
That day the Wallabies won 29-23 to secure a series comeback.
What is the record attendance for a rugby game?
The total of 90,307 is also someway short of the world record attendance for a rugby union match.
That is held by Australia but was set 25 years ago in 2000 when New Zealand beat Australia 39-25 at Stadium Australia.
They attendance that day was a whopping 109,864.
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