Lions line up Japan for lucrative first Test to warm up for 2021 tour
Fixture will create clash with Premiership final Prop Vunipola is still not clear on Saracens future
The British and Irish Lions are lining up a historic and lucrative first Test match against Japan ahead of their tour of South Africa next year, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.
It is understood that the 2019 World Cup hosts, who shot to prominence after their stunning victories over Ireland and Scotland to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament, are at the top of a shortlist of potential opponents for the fixture that also includes the Barbarians.
It is expected such a high-profile match against Japan coach Jamie Joseph’s side would raise around £5million, which would cover the majority of the costs of the Lions’ eight-game, six-week tour.
The fixture would also allow Lions head coach Warren Gatland an extra game to prepare his squad for the three-test series against the reigning world champions.
The Principality Stadium in Cardiff, with a capacity of 74,500, is thought to be the most likely venue to host the game, although it is understood that Murrayfield in Edinburgh and the Aviva Stadium in Dublin are also in contention.
The Rugby Football Union, however, has indicated it is not prepared to make Twickenham available so as not to jeopardise its relationship with Premiership
Rugby, as the fixture has been scheduled for the same weekend as English club rugby’s showpiece final, which is on June 26.
The Lions board met in Dublin on Wednesday and it is understood they agreed to push on with negotiations to schedule the first sanctioned “home” Lions match since the fixture against Argentina in Cardiff in 2005, and only the fourth of all time. The Lions are hoping for support from World Rugby, given its stated desire to secure more meaningful matches for Japan, who are due to host England on a twotest tour this July.
It is also expected to prove a highly attractive fixture for Japanese supporters and attract a huge television audience in the country, given the spike in interest from hosting last year’s World Cup.
Wherever it is played, the fixture will still put the Lions on a collision course with Premiership Rugby as
it will clash with their final at Twickenham that weekend.
The Telegraph revealed last March that the Lions were planning such a home fixture to raise enough funds to persuade Premiership Rugby to bring forward the date of its final by a week, therefore allowing Gatland’s squad some extra preparation time before leaving the UK.
The Lions are due to play their first match in South Africa on July 3, seven days after the Premiership final, and are desperate to ensure there is no repeat of the chaotic start to their 2017 tour of New Zealand,
when the squad arrived just three days before their first game.
Premiership Rugby has indicated, however, that unlike the Pro 14, it is unwilling to alter the date of its final. The Lions board has agreed to push ahead with the fixture regardless, which could now overshadow English club rugby’s domestic final.
It is understood that the Lions will not go head-to-head with the Premiership final, but will instead look to host the game on either Friday, June 25, or Sunday, June 27.
The extra match would give those players not involved in the
Premiership final a chance to experiment with combinations, given that next year’s tour schedule has been reduced from 10 to eight games from the New Zealand tour.
The Lions could begin marketing the match as early as the start of next season and the organisers would certainly expect to attract a capacity crowd.
Meanwhile, Mako Vunipola, who is one of the players likely to benefit from the fixture if he remains with Saracens in the Championship, has said he is not yet sure if he will be at the club next season. He said: “Some things need to happen before I can say I’m definitely staying. There are things that aren’t in my control, but hopefully it will get sorted sooner rather than later.”
Vunipola, who was named with his brother Billy in the salary-cap investigation after a co-investment made by Saracens owner Nigel Wray into a property company was deemed to have been salary, said he had no regrets about the business venture.
“For us, no regrets at all,” said Vunipola, who was not at fault in the breach. “If I had the choice to do it again, I would do it again knowing what has happened.
“That is no slight at not caring about what has happened to the club, but it is more the fact that I know rugby is important, but our careers are short and I want to look ahead a bit.
“Nigel [Wray] kind of presented the opportunity to us and as rugby players we realise our careers aren’t that long.
“Any opportunity that can help or sort a little bit of our future after rugby, we were more than willing to look into it.
“That was our thinking when we first invested with Nigel and that has not changed.”