Squiz Shortcuts - Why this Lions tour is crucial for Aussie rugby

Your Shortcut to… Why this Lions tour is crucial for Aussie rugby

Even if you’re not a fan, you might’ve clocked that there’s a lot of attention on rugby union at the moment… It’s because the British and Irish Lions are touring Australia. The tour is expected to inject millions of dollars into the economy and help pull the code out of financial strife, but even with renewed interest in the sport, those in the know say Rugby Australia’s got some big challenges to get it back to the glory days of the late 90s/early 2000s. So in this Squiz Shortcut, we’ll get you across:

• some of the issues they’re facing

• and why there’s so much riding on this Lions tour…

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We know about the Wallabies; who are the Lions?
The British and Irish Lions are a team made up of the best rugby players from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. They tour every 4 years, and they rotate between Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. That means they only visit here once every 12 years, so the chance to play them is exciting for our players. It’s billed as a once-in-a-generation chance.

Sounds like a big deal…
It sure is - rugby fans travel the world and pay a lot of money to watch these matches. There’s a carnival atmosphere around the tour, from the grounds themselves to the pubs and clubs showing the games… 

How many matches are they playing here?
We make it worth their while. The tour lasts for 5 weeks, and in that time the Lions play 6 warm-up games against various home sides and 3 Test matches against the Wallabies.

Where is the tour up to?
We’re down to the business end - the mane event if you like, hehe… The first Test was played in Brisbane last weekend in front of a sell-out crowd at Suncorp Stadium, and the Lions got up 27-19. But the home side rallied and scored more points than the Lions in the second half. 

A good sign, then?
Yep… Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt said the team had a lot to be proud of, and there were signs they could really give the tourists a run for their money in the next 2 Tests. And it’s important that we’re competitive in this series… 

Why is that?
Australia was once considered a formidable rugby nation, but the Wallabies haven’t won the World Cup since 1999, and we haven’t been in the final for a decade. Since then, on the whole, our performances have been inconsistent, and our standing in world rankings has dropped from the top 3 to #6... 

What’s happened?
Commentators put this down to a few reasons, but one of the main ones is that the sport is competing for talent in the same small pool as rugby league and Aussie rules. Competition for players starts at a junior level, where concerns among parents about injuries - particularly head injuries - has risen alongside awareness of CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy). 

What’s CTE?
It’s a brain disease linked to head trauma, and one of the potential long-term effects of repeated concussions. 

Is that causing kids to be hesitant to take up the sport?
Yep… Stats show that the number of kids in Australia choosing to play rugby - or being allowed by their parents to take it up - is dropping, whereas the participation numbers for Aussie Rules, soccer and basketball are all rising.

What about at a professional level?
At the top, the competition for talent becomes even more intense. Former Wallabies captain James Horwill, who now sits on the board of Queensland Rugby Union, says “we've got three full-time sporting codes that are all competing for the same athletes, the same fans, the same sponsorship dollars and ultimately the same TV slots, so it’s a congested market”... 

What other challenges is the code facing?
On top of that, we’re up against overseas clubs poaching our players with lucrative deals - and they start at a young age, with some offering contracts to teens straight out of school… Plus, the sport has got itself into a financial pickle.

How did that happen?
Competing for players and TV dollars, trying to broaden audiences by expanding into other states, plus overspending on the 2023 World Cup tour in France (that was the one where we were knocked out in the pool rounds for the first time in history), saw our governing rugby organisation, Rugby Australia, end up in a $36 million dollar hole, and it’s been trying to dig itself out ever since.

Does it have anything up its sleeve?
It sure does… Cue the Lions tour, riding in like red knights with their legions of fans to drop some serious cash into the coffers. We’ll get into that in a moment… As far as attracting talent goes, one of the biggest drawcards rugby has for athletes is an established international presence, the depth of competition that comes with that, and a worldwide fanbase. Basically, it offers players the potential to travel the world for their sport and make a lot of money in the process. 

Who’s at the helm of Rugby Australia?
Phil Waugh is the CEO - he played in the 2003 World Cup final for the Wallabies where they came runner up to England. He’s got a big job to turn things around, but he’s confident the organisation is heading in the right direction. In fact, he reckons that the Lions tour will have such an impact here that RU could end the year with a $50 million dollar surplus in the bank. 

That’s quite a turnaround…
It sure is, and that injection of cash - which is predicted to be over $100 million - is coming from sell out crowds at the Tests, merch sales and sponsorships. As we mentioned, the Lions tour is a big deal for fans… Even in the heart of AFL territory, the second Test in Melbourne this Saturday night has a crowd booked in excess of 100,000 people at the MCG.

Those are big numbers…
They sure are… And far from just getting things back on track financially, Waugh says we’re on the cusp of “a golden decade” of rugby. There’s a lot of events in the pipeline… Australia’s locked in to host the men’s and women’s World Cups in 2027 and 2029 respectively, which will be huge - that’s like the Olympics of rugby. 

Speaking of women’s rugby, what’s happening there?
More money is coming into the sport there too - last year, Rugby Australia lifted its investment by more than $3 million, so conditions for women’s players - and by extension, girls who might want to play the sport - are improving.

Anything else coming down the line?
Yep… As part of the Brisbane Olympics in 2032, we’re also hosting the Olympic Sevens tournament. And we typically do pretty well in the Sevens, so that’ll be a big hit with rugby fans too.

What’s the plan to harness all the attention on the sport?
Good question… While it’s one thing to bring these tours here and generate a lot of attention, it’s a whole other thing to be able to capitalise on the interest and revenue generated. The best way to do that, of course, is by winning. 

The Wallabies haven’t been doing much of that lately…
No… But their performances have been building in this tournament, and that’s giving fans some hope. As recently as Tuesday night, the First Nations and Pasifika XV team, made up of First Nations and Pacific Islander players, gave the Lions a proper scare, losing 24-19. That’s one try’s difference in rugby terms - which isn’t a lot… 

How did we do last time the Lions toured?
That was in 2013 and the Lions won 2 games to 1. But we got up in Melbourne 16-15, so fingers crossed we can put more points on them this time. Winning a game - or, to think big, winning the series - is the best way to ensure the game holds onto fans. As Waugh says, the game’s survival and the love for it is down to the audience. 

What has he said about that?
He says “It doesn’t necessarily need to be the boys or girls playing the game, but we need more boys and girls watching, engaging with the game, and driving the overall cycle”...  

I’m fired up… Where can I watch?
The next Test match between the Wallabies and the Lions is at the MCG on Saturday night… You can catch that on Channel 9 or on Stan Sport from 8.00pm (AEST)... And while you’re in the mood for rugby, our women’s team, the Wallaroos, are in action this weekend too - they’ll be playing Wales in a 2-Test series starting in Brisbane at 2.00pm (AEST) - catch it on Stan Sport.

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Onto our Recommendations

Reading: This interview with Phil Waugh in the Financial Review (paywall) gives his take on the direction he’s taking things at RU…

Looking: Here’s a bit of info and history about the rivalry between the British and Irish Lions and the Wallabies - skip to the second half of the article to What are the British and Irish Lions?…

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