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| Was 2005 the last time we saw the likes of Otago take on the Lions? |
With the Lions touring Australia at the moment, it is quite easy to think about how their tour of New Zealand will look like in a couple of years' time. With the Super Rugby season as it is now and the nature of the NPC being nearly amateur based, will the NZRU rather have Super Rugby sides take on the Lions - especially considering that the window for such tours is slowly shrinking?
Here is a possible British & Lions tour itinerary for 2017 with only Super Rugby sides, New Zealand Maori and of course the All Blacks with the current window. A compromise could be met with Super Rugby sides playing away in the provinces meaning that only one game will be played in each city.
Note that the South Island's test has been slated for Dunedin as I'm not certain that Christchurch will have a stadium up to standard ready in 2017.
Saturday, June 10 - Chiefs, Hamilton
Tuesday, June 13 - New Zealand Maori, Napier
Saturday, June 17 - Crusaders, Christchurch
Tuesday, June 20 - Highlanders, Invercargill
Saturday, June 24 - 1st Test, Dunedin
Tuesday, June 27 - Hurricanes, New Plymouth
Saturday, July 1 - 2nd Test, Wellington
Tuesday, July 4 - Blues, Whangarei
Saturday, July 8 - 3rd Test, Auckland
The NZ Maori game would be a weekend game. You would ideally want the British and Irish Lions playing in as many larger stadia as possible.
ReplyDeleteDepending on which players are available for the NZ Super Rugby teams then there could be some very close matches.
There is also unlikely to be a mid-week match between the 2nd and 3rd Tests
ReplyDelete