New Zealand Rugby CEO responds to 2029 Lions Tour debate

The growing interest and speculation surrounding a potential British & Irish Lions Tour of France has been hitting the headlines recently, but a meeting in Sydney last week has brought reassurance that there will be no change to the scheduled 2029 tour of New Zealand.

Plans for the tour are well underway, according to New Zealand Rugby CEO Mark Robinson, who sat down with his Lions counterparts to progress plans for both 2029’s men’s tour and 2027’s inaugural women’s tour, ahead of the third and final Test between the Lions and Wallabies.

The speculation is sure to continue over the tours following 2029, and a warm-up match against France before departing for New Zealand in four years’ time is on the table, with France representatives saying they are willing to complement rather than replace the traditional tour format.

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Regardless, the pundits have been offering their two cents.

Stephen Jones of The Sunday Times made his feelings clear in a viral article last week, calling for the ’29 tour to shift to France. The piece sparked plenty of debate in various corners of the rugby world and prompted Kiwi radio host D’Arcy Waldergrave to ask NZR’s Robinson about the idea.

“Well, Stephen wouldn’t be aware of this, but we had a fantastic meeting in Sydney last week with the Lions in the build-up to the last Test,” the CEO responded on Newstalk ZB.

“We had a whole day, midweek, and plans are steaming along really well. We’re hugely excited about where things sit there.

“We spent a lot of time talking about the potential schedule, the number of Tests, of non-Tests. They’ve worked towards a joint venture model in more recent tours, with South Africa, which was unfortunately impacted by COVID, and then Australia this year.

“So that’s a new model we’re sort of getting our heads around and understanding more about. So we spent a lot of time on that.

“And look, the Lions are hugely excited about coming to New Zealand, and we’re looking forward to having them here.

“And then we spent a lot of time, we’re getting closer to announcing what the format and nature of the Women’s Lions Tour, the inaugural Women’s Lions Tour in 2027, will be. And that’s going to be super exciting as well. We’re really excited about where we’re landing with that program.

“So no, Stephen might be a little bit off course there, but that won’t be the first time and probably won’t be the last.”