Lions set for six-week tour in 2005

Planning is under way for the hugely popular Lions tour of Australia to be replicated in a six-week tour of New Zealand in 2005.

The Lions have been a hit in Australia, with huge news coverage and good crowds at their games.

About 20,000 supporters are following the team and similar support of a tour through New Zealand would have a significant impact on this country's economy.

New Zealand Rugby Football Union chief executive David Rutherford said a tour of New Zealand would take place in 2005 unless the work on a global season forced changes to the International Rugby Board's fixtures list.

He said the tour would be in June and July and include three tests against the All Blacks and a game against New Zealand Maori.

Between six and eight provincial games would be played, including about four against first-division unions, and some against second and third-division unions, possibly represented by combined teams.

It would be the first tour of New Zealand by the Lions since 1993, and Rutherford said the Home Unions were keen for it to happen.

"If they come - and they are obligated to do so - they would like it to be a long tour, because once they are assembled they might as well have a decent tour," he said.

The only thing that can derail the tour is the push for a streamlined international season that has uniform windows for domestic and international matches.

Sanzar - the New Zealand, Australian and South African group that runs the Super 12 and Tri-Nations - has prepared a report into the season which will be discussed in Sydney on Wednesday.

The Home Unions will be at the meeting and Rutherford said he expected significant progress to be made.

He said the Sanzar report suggested several options which could be melded into the concerns of the Northern Hemisphere.

There were several common objectives within the two hemispheres, including a break of at least eight weeks for players, he said.

The Tri-Nations will continue to be played, despite some criticism of its becoming repetitive and boring, because it is a contractual obligation with News Ltd until 2005, when it will be held after the Lions tour.

- NZPA