British & Irish Lions fixtures 2025

It’s now less than two months until the 2025 British & Irish Lions’ fixture list gets under way, when the side hosts Argentina in a pre-tour match in Dublin on Friday 20 June.

Then the side – led by Andy Farrell and his newly appointed British & Irish Lions coaching staff – will jet off to Australia to embark on a nine-match itinerary down under.

Over the subsequent five weeks there’ll be British & Irish Lions fixtures against Super Rugby sides Western Force, the Queensland Reds, the NSW Waratahs and the ACT Brumbies, as well as an invitational combined Australia and New Zealand XV led by former All Blacks head coach Ian Foster. There’ll also be a first ever match against a First Nations & Pasifika XV.

Read more: British & Irish Lions captains? Who has led the Test side from 1888 through to the present day

As ever, the hotly anticipated tour will culminate in a three-match series against the Wallabies, with the trio of Tests taking place in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. With the Lions squad announcement due on Thursday 8 May, there’s plenty to get excited about between now and the final British & Irish Lions fixture of the summer on Saturday 2 August.

British & Irish Lions 2025 fixtures

Friday 20 June

  • British & Irish Lions v Argentina
    Aviva Stadium, Dublin
    Kick-off: 8.00pm BST / 9.00pm SAST / 5.00am AEST (Saturday) / 7.00am NZST (Saturday) / 3.00pm ET / 12.00pm PT

Saturday 28 June

  • Western Force v British & Irish Lions
    Optus Stadium, Perth
    Kick-off: 11.00am BST / 12.00pm SAST / 8.00pm AEST / 10.00pm NZST / 6.00am ET / 3.00am PT

Wednesday 2 July

  • Queensland Reds v British & Irish Lions
    Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
    Kick-off: 11.00am BST / 12.00pm SAST / 8.00pm AEST / 10.00pm NZST / 6.00am ET / 3.00am PT

Saturday 5 July

  • NSW Waratahs v British & Irish Lions
    Allianz Stadium, Sydney
    Kick-off: 11.00am BST / 12.00pm SAST / 8.00pm AEST / 10.00pm NZST / 6.00am ET / 3.00am PT

Wednesday 9 July

  • ACT Brumbies v British & Irish Lions
    Gio Stadium, Canberra
    Kick-off: 11.00am BST / 12.00pm SAST / 8.00pm AEST / 10.00pm NZST / 6.00am ET / 3.00am PT

Saturday 12 July

  • Australia & New Zealand XV v British & Irish Lions
    Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
    Kick-off: 11.00am BST / 12.00pm SAST / 8.00pm AEST / 10.00pm NZST / 6.00am ET / 3.00am PT

Saturday 19 July

  • FIRST TEST
    Australia v British & Irish Lions
    Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
    Kick-off: 11.00am BST / 12.00pm SAST / 8.00pm AEST / 10.00pm NZST / 6.00am ET / 3.00am PT

Tuesday 22 July

  • First Nations & Pasifika XV v British & Irish Lions
    Marvel Stadium, Melbourne
    Kick-off: 11.00am BST / 12.00pm SAST / 8.00pm AEST / 10.00pm NZST / 6.00am ET / 3.00am PT

Saturday 26 July

  • SECOND TEST
    Australia v British & Irish Lions
    MCG, Melbourne
    Kick-off: 11.00am BST / 12.00pm SAST / 8.00pm AEST / 10.00pm NZST / 6.00am ET / 3.00am PT

Saturday 2 August

  • THIRD TEST
    Australia v British & Irish Lions
    Accor Stadium, Sydney
    Kick-off: 11.00am BST / 12.00pm SAST / 8.00pm AEST / 10.00pm NZST / 6.00am ET / 3.00am PT

How do the 2025 British & Irish Lions fixtures compare to previous tours of Australia?

Jamie Roberts scores the British & Irish Lions’ fourth try in the final Test of the 2013 series in Australia

The British & Irish Lions were victorious on their previous tour to Australia in 2013 (David Rogers/Getty Images)

This will be the fifth official Australia-only Lions tour following trips in 1899, 1989, 2001 and 2013. The Lions won the series on each of those occasions aside for 2001, when Graham Henry’s team was beaten 2-1. (The Lions have visited Australia on other occasions, often in conjunction with a tour of New Zealand.)

The tourists will play nine British & Irish Lions fixtures in Australia, the same number their victorious predecessors played in 2013. A new addition to the schedule is the 22 July match against a First Nations & Pasifika XV in July, the first time such a team has ever been assembled. This game was originally supposed to take place against the Melbourne Rebels, but the dissolution of that franchise has meant a change of opponents.

Dropped from the schedule is the Combined Country (or NSW Country) fixture that the tourists have always won at a canter. Instead, the 2025 team will face a combined ANZAC side featuring players from New Zealand and Australia, a repeat of a British & Irish Lions fixture on the 1989 itinerary.

Read more: What’s the fewest players from a single nation selected for a British & Irish Lions tour?

Also missing is the stopover match against the Barbarians in the humidity of Hong Kong, which it was felt hampered the Lions’ preparations in 2013. This year’s pre-tour warm-up match takes place against Argentina in the rather more familiar conditions of Dublin – the first ever British & Irish Lions fixture to be played in Ireland.

As in 2013, the three Tests will take place in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, though back then the British & Irish Lions fixtures were completed by 6 July – nearly a whole month earlier than this tour wraps up.

Since beating Australia 2-1 in 2013, the Lions drew the 2017 Test series against New Zealand in 2017, and lost 2-1 to South Africa in 2021. The latter series was played without supporters because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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