Lions tour of France could edge closer as talks loom

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.

- Gerard Meagher

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 mouth-watering 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".