Where do the Lions go from here? Home, in the first instance, to disperse and recharge, but then the hierarchy must review this Australia tour in forensic detail, to work out the future direction of travel, in every sense.
They are adamant that all feedback will be welcomed and considered, so here, this column is offering a range of points, free of charge.
The following can serve as an over-arching blueprint for how rugby’s famous touring team can evolve and thrive…
Create a clear identity
This is the primary issue for the Lions to address and they should entitle the project ‘Save our Soul’. Six weeks following the four-nation roadshow Down Under has further highlighted how this British and Irish sporting institution has morphed into a commercial juggernaut and a branding movement with a team buried away in the midst of a vast red machine.
One seemingly innocuous incident on Saturday summed up a complex, multi-dimensional scenario. The Lions were back in their changing-room as a storm raged and after an elevated camera allowed TV viewers to see the players resting, talking or even looking at their mobile phones, performance manager David Nucifora threw a towel over the lens to cut the show short.
According to the small print of the tour agreement, the Lions were within their rights to crudely veto the footage, but it was just another example of over-zealous secrecy and control. The infernal tour agreement was also cited as a reason why Pete Samu was unfairly blocked from playing for the First Nations & Pasifika XV against Andy Farrell’s side in Melbourne.
There are mixed messages about the Lions’ identity. So much focus remains on the history and nostalgia dimensions which they like to play on, but now it is wrapped up in a hard-nosed quest for profits and a high-performance, win-at-all-costs mindset. There needs to be a decision about what exactly they are.
The Lions can’t trade on the misty-eyed memories of their touring heritage – as a means of maximising revenue – if they don’t wish to stay true to it all in some way.
Their past status as ambassadors for the sport has gone and it remains to be seen whether they have any interest in earning it back. To be clear, when players have had interactions with the public, they seem more than happy to accept requests for pictures and conversations, but there is a whole unwieldy infrastructure around them that limits such occasions.
Areas of hotels are blocked off. Curious by-standers are moved along. Tight bonds have been forged within the set-up, but outside their walls, the Lions have not won many hearts and minds in the host nation. Any engagements are invariably choreographed and captured by camera crews for their own churn of official social-media content.
Another telling snapshot of the tour came in Adelaide, where a pitch at a leading private school had been decked out in advertising boards, ready for the Lions to train there with their usual branded backdrops.
The schedule changed and the training session didn’t take place, yet the school were proud to host a Lions press conference, only for their head boy to be abruptly stopped from asking Andy Farrell a question at the end. The excuse was that he had to rush off. He didn’t.
That was an awkward episode and there was another at Accor Stadium on Saturday. Tadhg Beirne walked on to a stage decked out in a sponsor’s logos, to collect a Player of the Series award, while Finn Russell was being presented with a similar prize on behalf of another sponsor, on the pitch.
There is no turning the clock back in that regard; money talks and it won’t stop talking. But the Lions can still seek to lighten up with how, as a huge organisation, they face the world. They can accept that fun – openly visible fun – is allowed and that not all narratives have to be carefully controlled.
In 2029, adopt a different approach. Don’t hide the stars away. Invite local children to every training session. You’re not guarding the nuclear codes; it’s catching and passing, rucking and tackling – maybe the odd scrap or dropped ball, but that’s fine. Let people in. Relax and be different to every other professional side. Claw back that fading status as a team to elevate and promote the sport.
No rush over next head coach
Andy Farrell is already being anointed as the only candidate to front the next mission in 2029. Steady on. It’s four years away. Who knows where he will be for his day job by then. Stars can rise and fall fast.
Don’t even think about it until 2027, then make sure it is based on relevant evidence. There is also a valid argument that, by not appointing a current head coach of one of the home nations Test sides, it might reduce the impression of certain selection favourites from the out-set.
But – and it’s a big but – Farrell is deeply in love with the whole Lions concept and that carries a lot of weight.
Balancing act
This might be impossible, but it would be ideal to contrive more of a four-nations feel.
This tour was very Irish and had it not been for untimely injuries, it could have been even more of a green-wash.
Controversial or not, how about slightly limiting numbers from one country in any starting XV? That would have some merit. Of course, anything which reduces the impression of a meritocracy is not going to gain any traction, but selection is always a subjective process anyway.
Ignite the Red Army
Lions tours have become extremely expensive, which has had a profound impact on the make-up of the travelling support from Britain and Ireland.
There is a chronic need to ease off the drive for peak profits in order to provide more opportunities for younger fans to attend, by ending the practice of making most tickets part of costly travel packages.
The Lions point to social-media interest as proof of how they are capturing the youth market, but it’s not all about ‘likes’ and digital followers, it really should be about first-hand touring experience. Making it cheaper to attend would expand the demographic in the stands and, boy, does the sport need that.
Money match
Don’t play at home, to fill the bank account. Do play in France, or Barcelona or Milan. A whole tour of France would be epic, but sadly it seems unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future.
Taking on a France XV before heading to New Zealand in four years’ time might have to do. Don’t meddle with the schedule by trying to squeeze in tours every two or three years. Scarcity is part of the appeal…
Revamp build-up
Abandon the traditional, staple rota of hollow tour games. That old system just isn’t working any longer (although New Zealand are clear market leaders in making it competitive in every game and venue).
Before every tour, there is earnest talk about a commitment to releasing Test players to represent their provinces/franchises, but that never really happens on a large scale, so the calibre of the opposition is far too hit and miss.
So, time to line up Fiji for a proper tune-up, and maybe Moana Pasifika, after the First Nations & Pasifika XV showed in Melbourne what can be achieved by a team with a clear identity and cause. Also, don’t play a fixture between Tests. It is too disruptive.
Work with rebels
Rather than ignoring the danger, the Lions should engage with the R360 (break-away league) people – get ahead of it and be in the conversation. Don’t be blind-sided or complacent enough to think it won’t be an issue, because big salaries for modest workloads will make it an issue. Players are queuing up…
Widen the audience
A familiar plea in this column; go for free-to-air coverage, as a top priority. Sky Sports did a fine job with this 2025 crusade, but rugby desperately needs as many eye-balls on its marquee events as possible.
Given how much income they generate in other ways, the Lions should be willing to take a hit on their broadcast deal – which isn’t enormously lucrative anyway – to capitalise on their mass-market potential. Let the wider public see the red machine in far-away lands.
Four emerging stars who could shine for the Lions in 2029…
English: Afolabi Fasogbon (prop). The obvious choice is Henry Pollock – the youngest squad member here – but the Lions will need a successor to the great Tadhg Furlong and Gloucester’s massive young tighthead could emerge as that man.
Irish: Jamie Osborne (utility back). They call him ‘Showbiz’ and it is easy to see why. Leinster’s versatile rookie can operate at centre, on the wing and at full-back, he has physical presence, scores tries and has an impressive kicking game.
Scottish: Freddy Douglas (flanker). Rampaging Edinburgh openside demonstrated his vast potential with a solo try while captaining Scotland’s Under 20s against France. Last autumn, he became his country’s youngest male debutant since 1963.
Welsh: Carwyn Leggatt-Jones (fly-half). Playmaker prodigy from Llandovery College was called up to the Wales Under 20s squad in May, at the age of 17, amid growing excitement in the Principality that the Scarlets rookie could be the next big thing.
Cities and stadiums – tour ratings
(for those considering a trip to the Rugby World Cup in 2027, consider this a useful pocket guide)…
Perth: Clean and green and sunny, with dolphins in the mighty Swan River and fine beaches nearby. All quiet on weekdays, but just about enough going on to occupy visitors, before 9pm anyway! 7
Optus Stadium: Magnificent, state-of-the-art riverside arena, close enough to reach on foot from the city. Modern facilities, eye-catching design and good views, but oval shape creates distance. 7
Brisbane: Major building work going on to super-size the place for 2032 Olympics. Great climate and South Bank area with its city beach an ideal place to enjoy winter sun and skyscrapers backdrop. 6
Suncorp Stadium: Rectangular, which means the stands loom over the pitch to pack in the match-day atmosphere. Still feels modern but the pitch is over-used. Big local buzz on Caxton Street. 7.5
Sydney: This is the jackpot destination, with its twin icons – Harbour Bridge and Opera House – all the bays and beaches accessible by cheap, regular ferries, plus the old-world charm of The Rocks. 9
Allianz Stadium: Rebuilt neighbour to famous Sydney Cricket Ground. Good size, design, location. 8. Accor Stadium: Awkward venue to reach, west of city. Trains and roads busy. Grand but ageing. 6
Canberra: The capital divides opinion and this column is immune to its charms. Plenty of wide, open green spaces, but strangely spread-out and eerily quiet, plus it is currently a giant building site. 4
Gio Stadium: Out of town, next to Australian Institute of Sport, the home of the Brumbies was the smallest venue of the whole tour and least appealing. Out-of-date facilities; a rarity Down Under. 4
Adelaide: Compact, charming and picturesque. For those who visited, a few days in the state capital of South Australia wasn’t nearly enough. Impressive local food and wine scene (allegedly). 8
Adelaide Oval: Cleverly redeveloped so that its old-world appeal has not been lost, despite the creation of giant stands all around. Offers a roof climb plus cathedral and river views. Lovely. 8
Melbourne: Very different in feel to its big rival, Sydney. More earthy and quirky. All about hidden ‘laneways’ full of cool cafes and eateries. Real sense of being in a sporting and cultural hotspot. 8
Melbourne Cricket Ground: Towering icon which should, by rights, host the next World Cup Final. Has that magic 100,000 capacity, so much history engrained within it and easily accessible. 9
NB: This column wishes to express sympathies to those fans who were visiting Sydney for the first time, last week. It is rarely so relentlessly wet and wild, even in winter. Try to go back and give it another try. The place is normally sensational.
Last Word
It will be fascinating to monitor from afar how the Wallabies perform in the up-coming Rugby Championship, as that will go a long way to belatedly defining the scale of the Lions’ feats out here.
If they manage to shock the Springboks in Johannesburg on August 16, or in Cape Town seven days later, it will make this look like a significant British and Irish achievement, given that context.
But if Australia struggle badly against the Boks and the All Blacks – in keeping with recent tradition – it will inevitably diminish the perception of what the Lions have done.
The tourists certainly did not come close to greatness, not when Ireland and England would have not just hoped but expected to come here and win a series.
The Wallabies eventually lost out by a single point on series aggregate. When big Will Skelton was playing, they won by a street. They were seconds away from winning the second Test in Melbourne, to set up a decider.
Let’s be frank, this was a far closer call than it should have been, by rights, with four countries and vast resources against hosts in transition. The Lions didn’t achieve their target of a 3-0 whitewash, but success in the far south has been rare over the years, so that alone is worthy of acclaim – and no little relief.
