Andy Farrell will lead The British & Irish Lions to Australia in 2025 as the side look to emulate the class of 2013 in defeating the Wallabies. The Lions will play nine games on tour in Australia, with six warm-up matches and a three-Test series. Prior to that, the Lions will play a home fixture to begin their preparations, taking on Argentina in Dublin for their first meeting with Los Pumas in 20 years, with the teams playing out a draw in Cardiff prior to the 2005 Tour.
Following the opening home fixture against Argentina at the Aviva Stadium on Friday June 20, the Lions will fly Down Under for a series of nine matches. The action begins in Perth where they will take on the Western Force on June 28, before heading to Brisbane to take on Queensland Reds four days later. The New South Wales Waratahs are next up on July 5 in Sydney, followed by the ACT Brumbies in Canberra on July 9. The final match before the Test series will come against an invitational Australian-New Zealand side in Adelaide on July 12 before the Lions and the Wallabies meet in the first Test in Brisbane on Saturday July 19. The Lions face the Melbourne Rebels on July 22 in the final midweek encounter, with the second Test following in Melbourne on July 26 and the third and final Test taking place in Sydney on August 2.
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has been announced as the Head Coach of the Lions for the 2025 Tour. Farrell recently led Ireland to a second successive Guinness Six Nations title, and was also in charge as they won a series in New Zealand against the All Blacks for the very first time in 2022. He has previously worked as the defence coach for the Lions on two Tours, working under Warren Gatland in 2013 against the Wallabies and again four years later in New Zealand.
Joe Schmidt, who was Farrell’s head coach when he first moved over to coach in Ireland, has taken over as the Australia boss. The New Zealander, who enjoyed huge success in Ireland, most recently was part of the All Blacks coaching set-up that oversaw New Zealand’s run to the World Cup final in 2023. He takes over an Australian side that endured a difficult 2023 World Cup, missing out on a place in the quarter-finals.
The Lions were victorious on their last Tour of Australia, taking the Test series 2-1 in thrilling fashion. Leigh Halfpenny starred as the Lions took the first Test 23-21, before the Wallabies hit back to win the second 16-15. In the decider in Sydney, the Lions powered in the final quarter to win 41-16 and emphatically wrap up the series.
Since then, the Lions drew an iconic series against the All Blacks, the teams winning one Test apiece and drawing the decider. Then, four years ago in South Africa, Morné Steyn’s late penalty gave the world champions, South Africa, a 2-1 victory in another tightly-fought series.
The 2025 Lions Tour will be shown exclusively live on Sky Sports and NOW in the UK and Ireland. Sky Sports has been the broadcast partner of the Lions since 1997 and the memorable series victory in South Africa.
