Date 3 June – 8 July | Coach(es) Warren Gatland | |
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The 2017 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand will take place during June and July 2017. The tour will see the British and Irish Lions play 10 rugby union matches, including all five New Zealand Super Rugby franchises, the New Zealand Barbarians, the Māori All Blacks and three test matches against New Zealand. The Lions will look to win their first test series against New Zealand (commonly called the All Blacks) since 1971, while also making a first back to back series win, following a 2–1 series win over Australia in 2013, since their 1971 and 1974 winning series. The Lions will be selected from players that represent England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
On 7 September 2016, Wales' head coach Warren Gatland was named the Lions' head coach for the second consecutive tour. Joining Gatland's coaching staff will be Rob Howley (Wales, Attack Coach), Andy Farrell (Ireland, Defence Coach) and Steve Borthwick (England, Forwards Coach). This will be Howley's fifth Lions tour as both a player (1997 & 2001) and coach (2009 & 2013). Farrell will be on his second Lions tour, having coached the 2013 tour of Australia, while Borthwick will be on his first Lions tour.
Schedule
The 10-match schedule was announced on 9 July 2015, which will see the Lions play the New Zealand Super Rugby franchises for the first time. Previously, they played the provincial sides.
Initially, the Lions were looking to set up a match against the United States in America to open the tour, much like the Barbarians match in Hong Kong in 2013. However, on 6 July 2015, it was announced the idea had been scrapped due to some American players unable to be released by their clubs to make the match competitive enough. Also, a match versus the Pacific Islanders was proposed in 2014. The opening match of the tour was originally planned to be against a Provincial Union XV, however in March 2016, this was changed to the New Zealand Barbarians following their win over the Māori All Blacks.
In New Zealand, there was criticism that there were too many matches in the North Island with only two matches being played in the South Island. Christchurch was initially planned to host a test match, but due to the 2011 Christchurch earthquake which damaged Lancaster Park beyond repair, it was deemed that the remaining stadiums in the South Island were too small to host a test match.