SIR Graham Henry believes the British and Irish Lions should consider playing Test matches at home. The New Zealander coached the Lions on their 2001 tour of Australia before leading the All Blacks for seven years, culminating in World Cup glory in 2011.
With the Lions having squared the current three-match Test series with the All Blacks ahead of Saturday’s decider in Auckland, Henry feels the idea of playing Tests in Britain should be explored.
The Lions have played one-off home matches in the past, with a 1977 game against the Barbarians at Twickenham and a 1986 clash against The Rest at Cardiff Arms Park, the latter forming part of the International Rugby Board’s centenary celebrations.
Cardiff also hosted a warm-up match against Argentina in 2005 before Sir Clive Woodward’s Lions squad departed for that summer’s tour of New Zealand.
“I wonder about having Lions Tests at home back in the British Isles,” Henry told BBC Radio 5 live’s Sportsweek programme.
“I wonder if that would be a possibility going forward. Ask the players and fans – that’s what the game is about. I’m sure they would all be very positive about the Lions brand continuing and maybe expanding in the future.
“You have to have priorities and, if the Lions is the priority, that’s the way it has to be.”
The future of the Lions has been widely discussed during the current tour of New Zealand. The Lions are continuing to push for extra preparation time in the final weeks leading up to future tours amid tensions over the global schedule to follow the 2019 World Cup.
The next three-tour cycle of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand has been agreed in principle with a minimum of eight games, but Lions officials fear that shortening the schedule would make it untenable.
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