Future British & Irish Lions tour of France on the agenda at Melbourne summit

A British & Irish Lions tour of France could move a step closer next week when executives hold talks over “a new business model” in Melbourne before the second Test of the series against Australia.

Abdel Benazzi, the vice-president of the French federation (FFR), held informal discussions with Lions executives in Dublin before the warm-up match against Argentina, and he will travel to Australia next week to further press his nation’s claims of facing the touring side again, having previously done so in 1989. France have emerged as leading contenders to face the Lions in a warm-up match before the tour of New Zealand in 2029 and, according to Benazzi, could also fulfil the same role before the inaugural women’s tour in 2027, also to New Zealand.

More recently, however, there has been a groundswell of support for a tour of France, with leading Top 14 sides such as Toulouse and Bordeaux offering the prospect of competitive warm-up matches before a mouthwatering series against Les Bleus in contrast to the currently one-sided tour of Australia. The former Wales scrum-half Mike Phillips last week became the most recent former Lion to throw his weight behind the prospect, suggesting a tour of France would be a “gamechanger”.

Benazzi, who is also the president of the Six Nations and narrowly lost out to Brett Robinson in last year’s election to be World Rugby chair, is seeking to make France regular opponents on the Lions’ fixture list. Asked about the prospect of a future tour of his country, Benazzi said: “If you look at the legacy and the reputation of the Lions, of course they have the tradition with the south, our position as a neighbour is that we can do something together in the future.

“We had contact, not formally, just a friendly chat with the guys from the Lions and they started thinking maybe it would be a good idea. We don’t have a formal decision now but maybe we will talk about having two meetings with the [women] and the Lions and the men and the Lions in the future. Maybe in 2027 and 2029. We don’t think of just one shot, we think of a programme for the future. It’s good for everyone because it’s powerful and we want to share it with this institution.

“I want to spend a bit of time with the staff and just think about how we can build a new business model with this institution between France and the Lions. For me and for France, we want to build something interesting for both. How we can build something bigger for rugby, for everyone around the world with this meeting and secondly, how we can build some business between the two institutions, the Lions and France, and everyone will be happy with that.”

It is understood the Lions are open to exploring possibilities with France, which would provide an attractive option for supporters unable to afford expensive trips to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Benazzi was eager to stress that France are not looking to replace any of the three southern hemisphere nations but the FFR’s interest increases the pressure on the Wallabies to be competitive against the Lions in the coming series. An agreement for the 2029 tour with New Zealand is considered a given but the Lions are not formally committed to tour South Africa in 2033 or Australia in 2037.

Benazzi also believes the French public and players would fully buy in to the concept and expressed confidence an arrangement could be reached with the Top 14 to avoid clashing with the end-of-season run-in. “We don’t want to steal something from the south,” he added. “We just want to do something extra. It’s a legacy and that’s very important but we have a lot of things to share together. Being neighbours is important for supporters. I spoke with an agency that brings a lot of people to Australia this year and they said to me it would be very good business for people coming from the UK to France.

“I think we missed a lot of time since 1989, not using our relationship but now we understand each other. I don’t understand why we spent 40 years waiting to start contact with this institution.

We want to be part of these meetings, this bold future for everyone. The public, the players, will be excited. They need some challenges like that. Of course we have to look after the health of the players and organise when you can do it but everyone wants to be a part of this experience.”