THE LIONS will appoint a head coach for the 2013 tour to Australia a month after the end of the Six Nations, and they have not ruled out Ian McGeechan taking charge for a fifth time.
McGeechan said at the end of the 2009 trip to South Africa that he did not anticipate being involved in the game full time four years later. He has since become Bath’s director of rugby.
“Geech has not ruled himself out entirely,” said Lions manager Andy Irvine at the announcement of a 10-match 2013 tour that will start in Hong Kong on June 1st against the Barbarians. “I have spoken to him. He is an option.”
Irvine said the Lions coach would have to take a sabbatical of virtually a year if he were employed by a country or club.
“The head coach will have to be free of other commitments,” said Irvine. “He has to be totally unencumbered in the season leading up to the tour. I think the current head coaches of Ireland, Scotland and Wales [Declan Kidney, Andy Robinson and Warren Gatland] would all be available, but the person we choose will not necessarily come from the home unions.
“The 2009 tour was a success on and off the field. The series was lost narrowly and the Lions were unfortunate. Continuity is an important factor when it comes to the management team, especially with such a tight schedule, but there is also a view that it is good to spread the Lions’ experience. It is a dilemma.”
Irvine said the tour would start in Hong Kong to break up the journey, and did not rule out playing Argentina, who join the old Tri-Nations next year, in the future.
The Lions will play all five Australian Super 15 teams, Tests in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney and a fixture against a combined New South Wales and Queensland Country XV. Wallabies coach Robbie Deans will consider making his squad available for the warm-up games.
“You do not want to deny players a special experience like this and decisions will be made on an individual basis,” he said. “Some players never get the chance to face the Lions, because they only visit once every 12 years.”
The 2009 tour was blighted by poor attendances in the warm-up matches, with ticket prices set high and the provincial teams shorn of international players.
Guardian Service
AUSTRALIA v LIONS: 2013 ITINERARY
June 5th:Lions v Western Force, Perth
June 8th:Lions v Queensland Reds, Brisbane
June 12th:Lions v Combined New South Wales-Queensland Country, Newcastle
June 15th:Lions v New South Wales Waratahs, Sydney
June 18th:Lions v ACT Brumbies, Canberra
June 22nd:FIRST TEST – Lions v Australia, Brisbane
June 25th:Lions v Melbourne Rebels, Melbourne
June 29th:SECOND TEST – Lions v Australia, Melbourne
July 6th: THIRD TEST – Lions v Australia, Sydney
