Perth to open British & Irish Lions Rugby Union tour in 2025

The Western Force will take on the visiting team in June 2025 at the award-winning Optus Stadium.

The news comes as Perth was also named the Australian exclusive host of the HSBC SVNS Series in 2024 and 2025, with both announcements part of the 'golden decade' of Rugby in Australia, that culminates in the Rugby World Cup in 2027 and 2029.

All 3 rugby events are proudly supported by the State Government.

The 2013 British & Irish Lions tour attracted a crowd of more than 35,000 to Subiaco Oval when the squad played the Western Force, with the global broadcast of the nationwide tour reaching almost 22 million people.

The British & Irish Lions tour has been bringing together the best rugby players from across the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland to locations in the southern hemisphere since 1899, with the team touring Australia, New Zealand or South Africa every 4 years to play matches against the home nation teams.

The United Kingdom is the largest of WA's 11 key international visitor markets, with almost 20% of all WA's international visitors — or more than 100,000 travellers — coming from the UK over the year ending March 2023.

The 2025 Western Force vs British & Irish Lions match is proudly supported by the State Government through Tourism WA's Major Events funding pool.