Ian McGeechan’s 2009 British & Irish Lions will have afternoon kick-offs in all their Saturday matches in South Africa next summer.
The kick-off times for the Lions’ 10 tour games on their first tour to South Africa in 12 years have been confirmed by the host Union and the six weekend games, including the three Tests against the reigning world champions, will start at 3pm local time.
The midweek matches against the Golden Lions, Sharks and Emerging South Africa will kick-off at 7.10pm, while the Tuesday fixture against the Coastal XV in Port Elizabeth has been provisionally confirmed as a 3pm start. That game is due to take place on June 16, which is the Youth Day public holiday and an announcement will be made as soon as we have official confirmation.
In May ,June and early July, when the Lions are touring, the timings in South Africa will be one hour ahead of BST in the UK and Ireland, meaning 3pm kick-offs will be 2pm in the UK and Ireland and 7.10pm starts will b e 6.10pm at home.
The full tour schedule is now as follows:
Saturday, May 30: Highveld XV v Lions in Rustenburg – K-O 3pm
Wednesday, June 3: Golden Lions v Lions at Ellis Park in Johannesburg – K-O 7.10pm
Saturday, June 6: Free State Cheetahs v Lions Bloemfontein – K-O 3pm
Wednesday, June 10: Sharks v Lions in Durban – K-O 7.10pm
Saturday, June 13: Western Province v Lions in Cape Town – K-O 3pm
Tuesday, June 16: Coastal XV v Lions in Port Elizabeth – K-O 3pm (TBC)
Saturday, June 20: South Africa v Lions in Durban – K-O 3pm
Tuesday, June 23: Emerging SA v Lions in Cape Town – K-O 7.10pm
Saturday, June 27: South Africa v Lions in Pretoria – K-O 3pm
Saturday, 4 July: South Africa v Lions at Ellis Park in Johannesburg – K-O 3pm
