South Africa’s potential move to join the Six Nations could spark a bidding war to host the British & Irish Lions in 2033 with Argentina, Japan and the US among the possible candidates.
The Lions are due to travel to Australia in 2025 but there is no agreement in place as to where they will subsequently play after their multi-tour deal came to an end after their drawn series in New Zealand in 2017. The All Blacks are still expected to host the Lions in 2029 but with South Africa exploring the option of joining the Six Nations after 2025, the 2033 tour destination is less certain.
Last summer’s maligned series against South Africa was arranged as a one-off with a new commercial partnership for that tour only and afterwards the Lions’ managing director, Ben Calveley, said that future deals would be done on a “tour-by-tour” basis. “There is no long-term commitment to anyone,” he said. “We do a tour-by-tour deal depending on the conditions that prevail on our end.”
Calveley also stated that the Lions were not looking to deviate from the traditional model of rotating between the Springboks, Australia and New Zealand but South Africa joining the Six Nations would make them a far less attractive proposition. That, in turn, could pave the way for the Lions to break new ground.
Both Argentina, in 2005, and Japan at Murrayfield last summer have played against the Lions before and given that the commercial benefits of staging a Lions tour are huge for the host nation, they would not be short of bidders. The US are the frontrunners to host the 2031 World Cup and hosting the Lions tour years later would be the ideal next step in their progression. The Lions have not employed a bidding process before but did not rule out doing so in the future after the 2021 tour.
Meanwhile, proposals for South Africa to replace Italy in the Six Nations – as opposed to joining a seven-team competition – have been rejected by a well-placed source in Italy, where a plan for an expanded tournament with the Springboks joining the existing teams is considered a more likely outcome.
