Lions post set to be filled by May 14th

LIONS TOUR TO SOUTH AFRICA 2009 : THE COACH to the 2009 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa will be confirmed next month. Chief executive John Feehan explained: "We will be announcing the coach by May 14th."

When asked whether the interview process had begun and whether there was a shortlist, he replied "'yes", to the process being under way and "you could probably draw up a shortlist yourself", to the second part of the question, a reference, no doubt, to previously mooted contenders like Warren Gatland, Shaun Edwards and Ian McGeechan.

The Lions will undertake a 10-match schedule during next summer's tour to South Africa, returning to face the Springboks for the first time since their 2-1 series triumph in 1997. It is the last time the Lions won a series.

There will again be three Test matches against the Springboks, with the first one taking place on Saturday, June 20th, at Absa Park, Durban.

Lions chairman Andy Irvine enthused: "We are looking forward to touring such a wonderful country and playing the world champions on their own turf. The tour itself promises be full of challenges in a country where rugby is a real passion but I am confident the 2009 Lions will acquit themselves well.

"Lions tours are unique events and as such extremely popular. We are expecting tens of thousands of Lions fans to travel to South Africa in 2009 and are certain that every one of them will come back with amazing memories."

The obvious priority for the Lions will be to perform a little more capably in the Test series than they did against the All Blacks in 2005, when they lost out 3-0.

The tourists will play matches in seven cities over a period of six weeks, commencing with a game against the Highveld XV in Rustenburg on Saturday, May 30th.

The tour schedule includes six weekend fixtures and four mid-week matches. Apart from the three Test matches, the tourists will also play the Emerging Springboks, a confrontation perched between the first and second Tests.

The Lions have toured South Africa on 12 previous occasions, with the first tour there taking place in 1891.

That historic tour included Test matches at Port Elizabeth, Kimberley and Cape Town. Since then the Northern Hemisphere composite side have won 16 Tests against the Springboks and lost 21. Seven have been drawn.

It is expected that up to 50,000 supporters will travel with the Lions and to this end, British Lions Limited, the organisers of the Lions tour to South Africa in 2009, are advising supporters who want to travel and follow the team to book tickets through official sources.

Four official licensed operators have been appointed: England Rugby Travel, Gullivers Sports Travel, Sportsworld, and Thomas Cook Sport.

Feehan pointed out that "it had been an open bidding process," and that he expected to be "sub licensing agencies appointed in Ireland".

Lions tour: Fixture schedule

May 30th : v Highveld XV, Royal Bafokeng, Rustenburg.

June 3rd : v Golden Lions, Ellis Park, Johannesburg.

June 6th : v Cheetahs, Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein.

June 10th : v Sharks, Absa Park, Durban.

June 13th : v Western province, Newlands, Cape Town.

June 16th/17th : v Costal XV, Port Elizabeth.

June 20th : v South Africa, Absa Park, Durban.

June 23rd : v Emerging Springboks, Newlands, Cape Town.

June 27th : v South Africa, Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria.

July 4th : v South Africa, Ellis Park, Johannesburg.

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times