22°C | Tuesday October 21, 2025 
27 June 2025
By James Mullan
Over four days in late July and early August a festival of Rugby Union will take over North Sydney Oval and St Leonards Park to celebrate the historic British Lions tour of Australia. The schedule will be packed with events including two matches, a fan festival and screening of the highly anticipated Wallabies vs Lions match.
The British and Irish Lions combine the footy forces of Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England to take on the. It has been 12 years since the Lions have come down under, making this tour one of the most highly anticipated sports events of the year. They will play 9 games across 6 cities, highlighted by 3 matches against the Wallabies.
Let’s take a look at the local events celebrating the tour:
Rugby Fan Day – Wednesday 30 July
Footy fans can wet their appetite early at a true festival of the boot! The Classic Wallabies and British & Irish Legends squads will hold their final training sessions, including a captain’s run, in anticipation of their much-awaited match tomorrow. Fans will likely be able to say hello to the heroes of yesteryear.
A special junior rugby coaching clinic will also be held inviting kids and teens aged 4 to 16 to Bon Andrews Oval. All skill levels are welcome to participate in a drills and skills session from 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM, led by Classic Wallabies, British & Irish Legends, and NSW Rugby Development.
Classic Wallabies vs. British & Irish Rugby Legends – Thursday 31 July
As part of the 2013 tour North Sydney Oval hosted 12,000 fans for the Classics vs Legends game. Fast forward to 2025 and this match up will return, with some of rugby’s greatest player pulling on the boots again.
Headlining the squad is the legendary flanker George Smith who suited up for the Wallabies for 111 games and is the second most capped Wallaby forward. Smith won Australian Super Rugby’s player of the year four years in a row from 2006 to 2009.
Norths legend Adam Ashley-Cooper will be returning to North Sydney Oval. Rugby fans immediately get the voice of Gordon Brey yelling “Adam Ashley-Coopaaaaaaaa” any of the 121 times the winger pulled on the green and gold, the third most games for any Australia player at the time of his retirement. Ashley-Cooper won the Super Rugby title with the Waratahs in 2014 and was part of the 2015 Rugby World Cup Grand Final team.
Matt Giteau will also join the side. The iconic five eighth represented Australia 103 times, debuting all the way back in 2002, featuring in the 2003 Rugby World Cup grand final squad (we won’t talk about the result) before going on to score 698 points for his nation.
On the other side for British & Irish Legends stars such as Mike Tindall, Shane Byrne, Alex Cuthbert, Dan Biggar, Sean Lamont, Leigh Halfpenny and Shane Williams will don the red.
Morgan Turinui, General Manager of Classic Wallabies and former Wallaby star said “It’s about celebrating the rich history of rugby between the four home unions and Australia, creating once-in-12-years experiences for fans and corporate partners, whilst raising significant funds for grassroots rugby development across Australia.” with the goal of raising $250,000 for two organisations: The Atlas Foundation, an international children’s charity, and the Australian Rugby Foundation, which supports the development of grassroots rugby programs across the nation.
Wallaroos vs. Wales – Friday 1 August
The second game of the week at North Sydney Oval will see the best female players in Australia taking on the mighty Welsh, before both sides head to England for the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup. These two nations last met for two games on September 2024. The the first match up Wales scrapped home for a 31-24 win but the Wallaroos had a convincing 37-5 victory in their second match up. The Aussies will be keen to get back into form after a disappointing Pacific Four series, only getting 1 win in 3 games.
Wallabies vs Lions Live Site – Saturday 2 August
To cap off festivities the big match up being shown on the big screen at North Sydney Oval. Events kick off at 3:30 with a fan zone featuring food trucks, bars, stage entertainment and activations. The final game of the three-match of the Wallabies vs British & Irish Lions will kick off at 8pm. Grab your Wallbaies scarf and a warm jacket for a cold night of red hot rugby action.
