Lions 2009 tour schedule released
Brad Morgan
11 April 2008
The itinerary for the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa in 2009 has been released. It features 10 matches, including three tests.
Competitions such as the Tri-Nations Championship have left "traditional" tours, during which teams undertake long visits to countries and play matches against provincial teams, as a rare occurrence.
In fact, it is only the British and Irish Lions that nowadays undertake tours of the traditional nature. Still, their tours are rare, and because of their rarity and their gathering of talent from the best that England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland have to offer, they are big events on the calendar of rugby lovers.
Last tour
By the time 2009 rolls around, it will have been four years since the Lions last toured. They played 11 games, including three tests in New Zealand, in 2005, with a test against Argentina preceding the visit to the Land of the Long White Cloud.
Their results were not impressive. Argentina held the Lions to a 25-25 draw, while the All Blacks scored an emphatic 3-0 series victory, winning 21-3 in the first test, 48-18 in the second test, and 38-19 in the third test.
However, recent results by the home nations suggest British rugby might be on the up. England reached the final of the 2007 Rugby World Cup and, most recently, Wales captured the Grand Slam in the Six Nations Championship in impressive fashion.
South Africa 1997
More importantly, from a South African point of view, when the Lions last toured South Africa, in 1997, they left with a 2-1 series victory. They won the first test 25-16, edged the second test 18-15, and then lost the third test 35-16.
They played 13 matches on tour, winning 11 of them, with their only other loss besides the third test coming against Northern Transvaal - now known as the Blue Bulls - by a 35-30 margin.
For many of South Africa's 2007 World Cup winners, the biggest drawcard on the future international schedule is not the Tri-Nations Championship but the British and Irish Lions Tour of 2009. Two of the reasons for this have already been mentioned: the rarity of Lions tours and the fact that the Lions won the test series when they last visited South Africa.
Another reason is that, having won the World Cup, the one team that the Springboks couldn't have faced in France, the Lions - because they are made up of four national teams - present the world champions with a serious challenge that the Boks are eager to take on. To be the best, one has to beat the best …
World champions
"We are looking forward to touring such a wonderful country and playing the world champions on their own turf," British and Irish Lions' chairman Andy Irvine said in a statement this week.
"The tour itself promises to be full of challenges in a country where rugby is a real passion but I am certain that the 2009 Lions will acquit themselves well," Irvine said.
"Lions tours are unique events and as such are extremely popular. We are expecting tens of thousands of Lions fans to travel to South Africa in 2009 and are confident that every one of them will come back with amazing memories."
The managing director of SA Rugby (Pty) Ltd, Jonathan Stones, says the Lions' tour is a massive sporting event, on a par with the World Cup. He may be guilty of exaggeration, but a Lions tour is nonetheless a very big deal.
Programme
"We are putting in place an exciting programme and look forward to hosting this unique team," Stones said. "It is anticipated that South Africa will reap significant economic benefits from this tour."
The programme includes 10 matches, with six of them scheduled for weekends and four midweek contests.
Rustenburg will host the first match of the tour on 30 May 2009, when the Lions face a Highveld XV. Later, on 16 or 17 June, a match will be played against a Coastal XV in Port Elizabeth.
The first test will be played in Durban on 20 June. A week later, Pretoria will host the second test, followed by the third test in Johannesburg on 4 July.
There will be four matches against provincial teams, played successively. The first one takes place on 3 June against the Golden Lions, followed by outings against the Cheetahs, the Sharks, and Western Province.
Between the first and second tests, the Lions will also face an Emerging Springboks team.
Previous results
The Lions have toured South Africa on 12 occasions previously, with their first tour taking place in 1891.
They boast four series victories, including two of them in the 19th century. One series, in 1955, was drawn, while South Africa have won seven series.
The Springboks lead the Lions 21-16 in victories, while a remarkably high number of tests, six, have ended in draws.
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