British and Irish Lions 2025 Tour Predictions and Breakdown

12/30/2024 12:35 PM

As we bid goodbye to 2024, we look forward to a fantastic 2025 schedule for rugby union. We’ll of course have the annual Six Nations, we have the Women’s World Cup, and we have the return of the British and Irish Lions test team for the first time since the COVID-ridden 2021.

This time, the Lions will step back onto Australian soil for the first time since 2013, with a mind to carry on their performance back then, eking out a 2 - 1 victory over the Wallabies.

Australia on home turf

There’s plenty that Australia is famous for. Its stunning landscapes - vast wilderness, scorching deserts, the Great Barrier Reef. Its cultural hubs - Melbourne and Sydney, blue seas, golden beaches. Its incredible music scene - championed by the “world’s greatest music democracy” - where not even the Hottest 100 betting sites can predict what Triple J’s Hottest 100 will look like after the will of the Australian people has been projected onto it.

On the other hand, Australia is a land famed as much for its hostile climate as its cheerful and welcoming people, and the Wallabies will be happy to push that home advantage over their much pastier British and Irish counterparts.

While taking place in Australian winter should numb some of the advantages the weather gives (a freezing-cold 18C could be on the cards), climate can never be discounted.

That’s not to mention of course the ravenous furor which waits to meet the Lions as they fight the Wallabies. If you’re a Lions fan, go lend them your roar.
 

Form, form, form

Andy Farrell’s Lions are a force to be reckoned with, but as Farrell himself stated, the Wallabies are “on an upward curve, massively.”

Australia had a very strong November. Honestly, considering the travesty that was last year’s World Cup campaign, a strong 2024.

This can largely be attributed to Len Ikitau, Noah Lolesio and Tom Wright, who together have formed as much a backbone as a backline. Joe Schmidt’s willingness to give the trio their time has been well served in return, with Schmidt leading the Wallabies to a narrow victory against England and a dominant one against Wales over the last 2 months - with a very slim loss to Six Nations champions Ireland in the mix.

Tom Wright in particular is shining under his newest coach, with him looking to be in the best form of his life. Pulling 243 meters in Cardiff against the Welsh team - the most against a tier-one nation since 2018 by any individual - he slipped under the flailing talons of the Dragons with almost embarrassing ease.

There is serious talk of Wright being among the world’s best fullbacks right now.

It’s hard to say what’s changed so massively since 2023, which none of this year’s backline stars attended, being dropped from the squad. But Schmidt will be happy with the performance either way and with results improving week to week, Australia will be a serious threat.
 

Team selection

Farrell has one hell of a choice when it comes to the lineup selection for his first stead in charge of the Lions.
While his choices haven’t yet been locked in, he has an enormous amount of talent to pull from, and will be keeping a close eye on balancing form with consistency, and raw talent with experience.
Most punters predict a fairly similar set of numbers as prior to the Autumn Nations Series, with both loosehead props and hookers likely to see some easy choices.

Tighthead might be a different story, however, with injury concerns surrounding Tadhg Furlong, and Finlay Bealham having an unimpressive Autumn. Opoku-Fordjour might be a strong replacement for either, the 20-year-old in incredible form and with pace to match his youth.

The question of captaincy also remains unanswered. Caelan Doris seems the easiest response here, a 26-year-old with two Six Nations wins under his belt, and the necessary leadership skills to rally the Lions against the quick, physical team that Joe Schmidt has assembled in his new Wallabies.
 

Previous results

Historically, when the British and Irish Lions have assembled, it’s been a streamlined way to disappoint both British and Irish fans at once.

While defeating Australia in their 2013 series, this marked the first series victory since 1997 in South Africa for the Lions - and they lost their most recent series in 2021 against the South African Springbok side, managing a tie in New Zealand in 2017.

Australia has historically been by far the best matchup for the Lions, with 7 tour wins and only 2 losses - and were it not for November, it would have been an easy call to put the money on the Lions to continue their domination.

There has been a lot of talk throughout 2024 that British rugby might be at the worst level it has been for decades. Again, November did little to alleviate those concerns.

Prediction

With Australia’s star rising, and a struggling Autumn as Southern-hemisphere teams showed their strength, it’s no longer looking like surefire victory for the Lions as they face down the Wallabies down-under.

Despite mixed results, Farrell has the ability to blend the best of every British and Irish nation to take to Australia next summer. The determination - and the want for vengeance - of those players is not to be underestimated.

Overall, a Lions victory seems much more likely - though a 2 - 1 series would not be surprising.