Rugby

Decision due before year end on launch of British & Irish Lionesses

Further feasibility studies have to be done on a potential tour in 2025

The Ireland women’s team could be part of a Lionesses tour in 2025. Photo: Ryan Byrne/Inpho

Robert Kitson
Tue Aug 10 2021 - 13:55

A decision is to be taken before the end of the year about the possible launch of a female British & Irish Lions touring team. A feasibility study is under way with officials insisting they would like to see a Lionesses squad take the field in the not-too-distant future.

With the next men’s tour to Australia scheduled for 2025 there remain several logistical and financial hurdles to overcome if a women’s side is to tour, say, Australia and New Zealand during the same time period. Ben Calveley, the Lions’ chief executive, said further work had to be done on its viability but that he hoped it would eventually happen.

“We have always said it’s a case of when, not if, when it comes to the women’s Lions,” he said. “It is certainly something we are looking at very, very seriously. We think women’s sport generally is riding something of a crest of a wave. We would hope to be a part of that.”

With only a handful of countries able to support professional women’s rugby, the Lionesses do not have a vast number of tour destinations and must also avoid clashing with men’s and women’s World Cups. A Barbarians women’s team played against England in 2019.

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Calveley said the feasibility study, backed by the insurance company Royal London, had yet to identify a preferred option: “We wouldn’t assume, if there was to be a women’s tour, that it would have to happen at the same time as the men or at the same location.

“It could be a completely different model. We have a blank sheet of paper. We are looking into how you can make a women’s team viable, where it fits into the overall cycle, who might you play against and so on. Recommendations will be made off the back of the feasibility study that will take place over the second half of this year.”

The Lions have already revealed the men’s tour agreement for 2025 has yet to be signed off although Calveley, at this stage, does not foresee major changes to the existing rota of tour hosts. “We’re not looking to deviate from the traditional Lions model. We do a tour-by-tour deal.” – Guardian

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