British & Irish Lions South Africa 2021 Tour Dates Announced

The fixture list for the 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa has been announce this morning, 4th December 2019. 

South Africa 2021 here we come…. including three Tests against the #RWC2019 Champions @Springboks and what promises to be one magical Tour.#LionsSA2021 pic.twitter.com/HWY3jGYaQn

— British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) December 4, 2019

The tour will be shorter than the 2017 trip to New Zealand, playing 8 games in 5 weeks finishing off with a 3 Test series against the Springboks, 2019 Rugby World Cup winners. 

Warren Gatland leads the Lions for a third consecutive tour, and believes the schedule allows his squad to be prepared for the three Test matches at the end of the tour.

“I am absolutely thrilled with how this schedule looks. Touring South Africa is always a huge challenge, not only from a rugby perspective, but also in terms of the venues and the conditions facing the players.

“We are very comfortable that three of the games, two of which are Test matches, will be played at altitude. Our schedule falls in a way to allow us to start at sea level before building up and acclimatising to the unique environment that playing at altitude presents."

Johannesburg's FNB Stadium, which hosts the first Test, has a capacity of 88,000, so a sell-out crowd would beat the record of 84,188 from the final Test of the 2001 tour to Australia. 

It's safe to say the Springboks are looking forward to it!

🦁 Coming to South Africa in July 2021
📆 Full tour schedule announced
🏉 Tests in Cape Town and Johannesburg

🔗 https://t.co/n66HK6HhlG#LionsSA2021 @lionsofficial pic.twitter.com/JfHER8vrlb

— Springboks (@Springboks) December 4, 2019

On the previous visit to South Africa - led by Sir Ian McGeechan and captained by Paul O'Connell - the Lions won all 6 warm up matches, but fell to a 2-1 Test series defeat to the Springboks. 

Full 2021 South Africa itinerary:

Canterbury will once again be suppliers for the 2021 British and Irish Lions, and the shirt is expected to be released towards the end of 2020, hopefully just in time for Christmas!

As always, First XV Rugbystuff.com will stock a comprehensive range of official Lions kit, including training shirts, replica jerseys, t-shirts, hoodies, shorts, rugby balls, and lots, lots more.

Keep an eye on the website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for all the latest rugby news, shirt releases and Lions 2021 information.