Women’s British and Irish Lions tour: Learning from men’s example - Alice Soper

The All Blacks weathering the storm against the British and Irish Lions back in 2005. Photo / Brett Phibbs

It took nearly 30 years of professional men’s rugby to determine that global growth was in their best interests. This was celebrated with the announcement of the alignment of the global calendar late last year, paving the way for the introduction of a men’s version of WXV. Men’s rugby was learning from women’s rugby’s example for the betterment of the game as a whole. Such enlightenment was short-lived though, with the first major rugby announcement of this year setting women up to repeat men’s mistakes.

The two major roadblocks for global alignment in the men’s game were the lockout periods of the World Cup and the British & Irish Lions tours, World Cups being limited in the number of participating nations, making it hard for developing teams to break through. Meanwhile the British & Irish Lions are a colonial throwback, with tours largely limited to South Africa, New Zealand and Australia. The result of which has been an entrenching of the tier system, whereby established nations have grown their talent, brand and bank accounts while developing nations remain sidelined.

This is why the announcement of the first women’s British & Irish Lions tour hasn’t been met with rapturous applause. The women’s game, still taking its first tentative steps into the professional era, is now walking down a developmental dead end. The complaints that dog the modern-day Lions franchise are unlikely to be resolved by bringing a women’s team into the fold.

Despite only touring every four years, discussion of Lions selections is near-constant in men’s Northern Hemisphere rugby, with the team of the day ultimately comprised of whoever is dominating the Six Nations that year. In the women’s game, that is almost always the Red Roses.

The WXV 1 title isn't the only thing the Red Roses are celebrating. Photo / Photosport

The women’s Lions team will be less British and Irish, more England and friends. England, the nation whose women’s players currently get more game time domestically and internationally than any other, have just got another opportunity to play. No wonder the loudest celebration of this announcement is coming from their shores.

When the men’s Lions visit Australia in 2025, they will play three tests against the Wallabies, one against an invitational Anzac side and five matches against the local Super Rugby Pacific teams. The announcement of the women’s tour to New Zealand in 2027 came with three guaranteed games against the Black Ferns, with the details of the two additional matches to be confirmed. This relatively truncated tour is no doubt a result of its crowded placement against the WXV and men’s World Cup window, as well as there being less easily accessible opposition available.

Who those two additional matches are against will reveal much of the future of the women’s game and this tour’s place in it. The Lions will land in the middle of our Farah Palmer Cup season, meaning many players will already be committed. You might argue that a match goes to a provincial side but I’m not comfortable with us asking these amateur athletes to favour ambition over personal safety.

Will we see a similar team created for the women's game when the British & Irish Lions come to town? Photo / Photosport

This might therefore see New Zealand Rugby disrupt this annual tournament in service of the tour, enabling them to assemble a North and South Island team or finally field a New Zealand Wāhine Māori team. Alternatively, they could offer the development opportunity to our neighbours with an invite to the Wallaroos and the winner of that year’s Oceania series or a perhaps women’s an invitational Moana Pasifika team.

More than likely, New Zealand Rugby will want to maximise this opportunity for themselves. They are sharing the bill so they will want to share in the benefits. We know where this choice takes us though, driving the divide between emerging and established rugby nations.

The women’s Lion’s team is a copy and paste job but its impact doesn’t have to be. Let’s hope we don’t wait another 30 years to learn this lesson.