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The British & Irish Lions will break new ground on their 2013 tour of Australia by taking on the Barbarians in Hong Kong.

The tourists will face the famous invitational side for the first time since 1977 in a curtain-raiser for their Test series with the Wallabies, creating another chapter in their history with their first game in the region.

Legendary Scotland fullback Andy Irvine has been confirmed as the manager of the tour - with former Wales wing Gerald Davies named as Lions chairman.

Irvine, 59, won 60 caps for Scotland in a glittering career, touring with the Lions on three occasions following his bow on their famous 1974 trip to South Africa. In total he played 41 games for them, including nine Tests, and scored 19 tries.

He will now take on the key task of identifying the coach to lead the tourists against the Wallabies, who triumphed 2-1 in the Test series on their last meeting in 2001, alongside Davies, who managed the 2009 tour to South Africa.

“Last year’s tour was a phenomenal showcase for rugby, and I look forward to upholding the best of Lions traditions when we travel to the home of the Wallabies for what will be a fantastic experience,” Irvine said. “In the meantime, I can’t wait to get my teeth into the planning and logistics that will be so crucial to the success of the tour over the next two-and-a-half years.”

The tourists have also renewed their sponsorship deal with HSBC until the end of the tour to Australia and the bank will continue as the Lions’ principle partner and shirt sponsor, extending the agreement that was first signed in 2007.

“To be able to confirm today that the Lions will break new ground with their first ever fixture in Hong Kong will ensure the tour to Australia is even more special,” Lions chief executive John Feehan said.

“I’d also like to congratulate Andy and Gerald on their appointments. The Lions will benefit hugely from having two highly regarded and respected former Lions at the helm for the tour to Australia.”

Hong Kong has a strong rugby heritage thanks to the annual Hong Kong Sevens and has moved up to hosting Test matches in recent seasons thanks to the policy of taking Bledisloe Cup Tests to Asia - with the All Blacks and Wallabies set to face off on October 30 at Hong Kong Stadium. The fixture was first staged at the ground in 2008 although this year’s edition was initially plagued by poor ticket sales.

Pre-Register for the LWTL 2013 tour by clicking this link

We are very excited to hear that our very own Lions host, Robert Jones (Wales and Lions) has been asked to join a team of 15 ex-Wales captains to climb Kilimanjaro this September. Anoether of our previous hosts Ieuan Evans will also be making the climb and we wish them both all their best with their charitable endeavours. When I have more news about the charities we will place the links on here.

Good luck training!

Its early days at the moment but there is talk of an LWTL 2009 Lions reunion taking place before the Wales v England game on Friday 4 February, 2011. Watch this space for more news, but if all goes well there will be a pre-match party before the game and hopefully maybe even a game to watch! Rob Jones and John Bentley have both offered to dust off their boots so at this stage, anything looks possible!

Former Lion’s hooker Mark Regan is dusting off his running machine after he was invited to play in the Bermuda Classics tournament in November. The ex Bristol and Bath player stopped playing competitively at the end of last season and has been quoted as saying that “he is really looking forward to the challenge”.

The World Rugby Classics event will take place in Bermuda between the 7th and 14th of November and the Classic Lions are getting ready for the challenge of defending the title they won last time around.

The event started life in 1988 and was primarily for rugby stars whose playing career was coming to an end. It gave them the opportunity to extend their careers a little and play against each other.
Magnificent rugby players like Wade Dooley, John Mcbride, Gavin Hastings and Philippe Sella have all made the journey to the British overseas territory in the past.

This year’s event is approaching fast and definitely a tournament to mark on your calendar.

There can be little for the Springboks to play for here on Saturday. The British and Irish Lions rugby tour has been derailed and so its mission accomplished as far as they are concerned. So, what should the Lions look to take out of the game? Pride perhaps or just some revenge maybe?

It’s tricky because this game is essentially a dead rubber, a game without any significant meaning and it is precisely this reason that the Lions should go into the game wanting to play the best rugby possible. It is the mark of true champions when they can win, even when there’s little to play for because it shows the opposition that the Lions are always tough to beat.

Over the tour many players have stepped up to the mark and been counted. Flanker Martyn Williams has said that being selected for the Lions in the pinnacle of his career to date so there’s plenty to play for. Apparently training has gone well and the boys are looking forward to the game on Saturday, plenty to play for then.

Of course there’s still a lot to play for! There’s the pride, the passion, the fans, Britain, Ireland and individual duals still waiting to be resolved. Players will give it their all as the coach Ian McGeechen says; they are positive and looking for a convincing victory.

A bruised British and Irish Lions rugby tour take a rest after the discomforting scenes witnessed against a very aggressive Western Province here in Port Elizabeth. Whatever the South Africans throw at the Lions though legal or otherwise they have stood up to everything.

Could it be that our hosts have become increasingly frustrated by the good rugby played by the visitors, which has manifested itself into trying to batter them into submission. On the evidence so far though, the British and Irish lads are made of stern stuff, despite the intimidation.

Donncha O’Callaghan the Lion’s captain for the day called for his side to experience life ‘outside the comfort zone’, a phrase which came to mean far more than a feeling a sense of stepping up a gear. Indeed, Ronan O’Gara highlighted the ‘lippy’ nature of Western Provence’s players even after the game had finished.

20-8 the Lions triumphed over Western Provence making it the first time in 20 years that they have won six consecutive games in a Test series.  Although they may be battered and bruised, the Lions have set up a great first game against the Springboks back in Durban. The tourists kept their heads and won the game and that is all that matters. Intimidate all you like but if you lose it will fall on uncaring ears.

There has been another record breaking win for the Lions in the British and Irish rugby tour of South Africa as they battered the Sharks at the Absa stadium here in Durban on Wednesday night. The style with which they brought about their highest victory over the Sharks made for huge satisfaction within the coaching staff.

We’ve been saying on these pages for weeks now that the team’s confidence and depth have been looking really good. The way O’Driscoll set an example for his team mates to follow giving credence to the idea of a team full of captains.

The 39-3 score line suggests an easy win but the Lions didn’t have it their own way, especially in the first fifteen minutes where they struggled to flow much at all. After this initial staccato start however the team played in a way that hinted they’re tuning up well for the first test here next week.

The Test side needs that kind of strong upbeat approach to beat South Africa, it needs a team of captains, each man taking responsibility and standing up to be counted. O’Driscoll’s class, Byrne and Roberts’ amazing confidence and Phillips mazy runs bamboozling opposition players are some of the games highlights.

With Phil Vickery being chosen as captain for the next game against Western Province at the weekend you get some idea of the calibre of player the Lions can call upon.

20-0 up at the end of the first quarter here in Bloemfontein and it looked as the Lions rugby tour had swatted away the best warm up beasts South Africa had to offer. As we know, there’s nothing more dangerous than a wounded animal and the Cheetahs were about to show their teeth by way of a slick swift comeback that almost led to the Lions capitulation.

The weariness (for that is what it looked liked) of the British and Irish Lions pack towards the end was worrying and probably well noted by South Africa test team scouts. Whereas Wednesday’s sublime win was at a canter this was scarily close with Lions butter finger handling adding to the nail-biting turnaround.

As Louis Strydom’s drop goal sailed towards the posts, a famous victory hanging in the air, Lions hearts were in their mouths. Fortunately for the tourists Strydom missed and another win for the visitors was about to be recorded in tour notes.

Let’s concentrate on the positives, the Lions tour has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride but they haven’t lost yet, and at times here, they played the sort of rugby that took your breath away. Okay so the finish seemed as if their breath had been taken away but they saw it out with good defensive teamwork. That is the watchword out here, ‘teamwork’ and as long as they keep winning the bonds, like the rugby, will get stronger and stronger.

The Lions roared to their biggest victory in South Africa in 35 years last week when they pulverised the Golden Lions 74-10 with a team performance that showed just what the British and Irish rugby players can do.

Brian O’Driscoll raced through the shell-shocked Golden Lions defence on one occasion only to turn around and see defeated, dejected and demoralised faces which made one feel a little bit of sympathy for the hosts - but only a little.

There’s no doubt that seeing the British and Irish Lions rugby tour reaching these heights sends a shot of confidence through the whole team, substitutes and management included.

If the press had been underwhelmed by the previous game in Rustenburg they were full of praise for this excellent display, and so they should be, because it was a real statement ahead of Saturday’s game against the Cheetahs.

Whilst we must guard against over confidence it is great to see the players responding to head coach Ian McGeecham’s demands to ‘lay down a marker’ for the test series, the first game of which starts in a weeks time.

There are a few more warm up matches to be played before the first Test in Durban and it will be difficult for the players to reproduce a score line like the one seen here in Johannesburg but, if they can produce the same intense performance they should bring about great victories.

The first game is over and the Lions won it, that’s the only thing you can really say about the error strewn opener in Rustenburg. The sparse crowd were not treated to the best rugby the Lions rugby tour could offer but as we know the lads have only just got together and a win is a win. Better to start the tour with a shaky win than a definite loss.

The victory was unconvincing but the way Alun Wyn Jones took his chance (as a substitute) should give the Lions confidence in their strength in depth. It takes time to gel properly, which is reflected in the amount of points scored by the lads in the last 14 minutes. They scored 24 points in this final quarter which might suggest that the more they play with each other the better the rugby will be.

It’s a wonder why the crowds were so low? Perhaps the Indian Cricket League (played out in South Africa due to security problems in India) may have something to do with it but one thing we can be sure of is, if the Lions play rugby like they did in the last 15 minutes throughout the whole game then the crowds will come.