The British and Irish Lions have announced that their first women’s team will tour New Zealand in September 2027.
The team will play three Tests against the reigning world champions Black Ferns, as well as five warm-up matches expected to be played against provincial teams in New Zealand.
The confirmation of the first women’s team opens a new chapter in the Lions’ 136-year history; CEO Ben Calveley called it a “historic turning point” for the women’s game and warned it would not be just a copy-paste version. men’s tours.
“What we won’t do is replicate what happened in the men’s game,” Calveley said. “This is potentially very different. We see ourselves going to very, very different places in the future.
“You may see France being really interesting for the women’s Lions tour in the future; The situation is the same in North America; They will host the men’s and women’s World Cups in 2031 and 2033.
“We can take ourselves anywhere, provided the page is blank and it’s right for the development of the women’s game.”
Importantly, there will be no international quotas imposed on a women’s team, which will follow the same merit-based selection process that applies to men’s Lions teams.
There were fears that England players would dominate the women’s Lions squad, given the Red Roses have been the most successful on the women’s Test scene in recent years, having won the last four Six Nations titles.
Organizers insist the women’s team will be commercially sustainable, having already found two commercial partners to support the 2027 tour. Lions’ global partner Royal London will act as founding partner of the women’s team, while insurer Howden has also been confirmed as title partner for the inaugural series.
The money invested by Royal London will be invested directly into player pathways within each home association to support the wider growth of women’s football.
“We’re really, really clear that we’re just part of the global rugby ecosystem and we’re now a very new part of the women’s game, and we wanted to make sure we were making decisions that were in the best interests of the women’s Lions, but also in the best interests of the women’s game,” Calveley said.
The development follows months of work by the Women’s Lions feasibility steering group, which includes professional rugby executives, business executives and former players, and concluded last year that the tour would be commercially sustainable.
Key questions
Why New Zealand?
Simply put, the Black Ferns are the queens of women’s rugby. In fact, they are one of only two rugby nations, alongside France, to rival the women’s Lions team. The British and Irish Lions were also inspired by the record-breaking World Cup the country hosted in 2022, which retrospectively served as a blueprint for the 2027 tour.
“These games will be extremely competitive, but in addition our expectation is that they will bring sell-out crowds, so we will have passionate fans in all stadiums,” said Lions CEO Ben Calveley. “There will be a high media footprint, there will be a high level of interest from publishers, etc. “And what’s really important is that it’s commercially sustainable, not just for the Lions but also for the hosts in New Zealand Rugby.”
Where will future tours go?
New Zealand is the “unanimous” choice for the 2027 tour, while France and North America have been touted as possible hosts for future women’s tours, which will deviate from the traditional tourist destinations of the men’s game.
“As you would expect, we talked to a lot of different countries around the world, and the good news is there was a lot of interest,” said Calveley, who remained tight-lipped about what other nations were discussing as part of long-term plans. “New Zealand are back-to-back world champions and a country that loves rugby so much that the level of competition in 2027 will be significant.”
Won’t it be full of English players?
The short answer is yes. While the landscape of women’s rugby may change over the next three years, it is difficult to see the first women’s Lions team truly representing each of their respective countries. England, who won the Women’s Six Nations Championship for the fifth consecutive year this year, became the first women’s team to benefit from professional contracts five years ago. Wales, Scotland and Ireland have been slow to follow suit, despite the majority of non-English players playing club rugby in Premiership Women’s Rugby, England’s top-flight team, a situation that may soon change.
Who pays for this?
Money is often a sticking point in women’s rugby, which often operates at a loss compared to the riches the men play for. For context, the Red Roses’ historic Grand Slam final at Twickenham last year, which attracted a crowd of 58,498, earned the Rugby Football Union around £1 million. But Calveley has promised that the 2027 women’s tour will be a commercially sustainable venture by securing two commercial partners in Royal London and Howden.
What are the next steps?
The Lions will form an advisory group that will be tasked with mapping out the finer details of the 2027 tour, including what the warm-up fixtures will be, the hiring of a coaching staff and what TV broadcasts will look like. “We know we have played three Tests against the Black Ferns, but the rest of the schedule will be determined and, more importantly, put together in line with women-specific player load guidelines currently being worked out by World Rugby and the International Rugby Players Association,” Calveley explained.
What does this mean for the women’s game more broadly?
Being selected for the first women’s Lions team could be the pinnacle of some players’ careers. The Lions brand undoubtedly carries prestige and, some say, a long-overdue women’s football initiative would attract more attention to women’s rugby. But the idea of the world’s best domestic players facing six-time world champions New Zealand will do little to improve the competitive landscape of women’s football. In fact, the concept couldn’t be further from what World Rugby is trying to achieve through WXV, the global women’s competition launched last autumn to give developing nations more Test opportunities on the women’s stage.