(Reuters) – Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan said he has opened talks with New Zealand Rugby officials to discuss fielding a combined ANZAC team against the British and Irish Lions in 2025.
The Lions are due to play three tests against the Wallabies in Australia and McLennan has proposed an additional clash involving players from both sides of the Tasman Sea at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as part of the tour.
“We’ve talked to the Kiwis about hosting an ANZAC team against the Lions in 2025 and they’re considering the idea,” McLennan told the Daily Mail.
“I’m in no doubt it would be a belter and we’d sell the MCG out with 100,000 fans.
“The best of the Wallabies and the All Blacks against the Lions would create enormous global coverage.”
The Lions previously faced a combined team during their 1989 trip to Australia, winning the game at Ballymore in Brisbane 19-15 having handed the Wallabies a 2-1 series defeat earlier in the tour.
The proposal comes despite a frosty atmosphere between the Australian and New Zealand unions in recent months, although McLennan claimed the relationship was back on track.
“All is good with the Kiwis now, we’re friends again and we’d be happy to give them a cut,” said McLennan.
(Reporting by Michael Church in Hong Kong, Editing by Peter Rutherford)
