With the series now done and the prospect of a 3-0 clean sweep on the cards in Sydney on Saturday, the debate about Australia’s place on the Lions’ rota may reignite if the Lions do go on and make it three.
Should they be dropped? Should carrots be dangled in front of the French clubs to see if they want to join the rota, maybe as a replacement for Australia or even in addition to Australia?
The poor state of Wallaby rugby, Saturday’s emotional response apart, is only one section of this. The other part is commerce. Follow the money, as they say. The cities and stadiums in Australia are extraordinary in scale and number and the fans love coming here. As ever, the red army has travelled in force.
The Lions played in front of just over 90,000 at the MCG on Saturday, the biggest crowd they have ever performed in front of. The second-biggest was in 1955 in Johannesburg. The third and fourth biggest were in Sydney in 2001 and 2013.
Lions fans – and ex-pats – get behind a tour of Australia and it does not seem to bother them unduly that they are watching a succession of easy wins. It is not like Australia have suddenly become average. They were average when Lions fans hoovered up travel packages at huge expense. They were coming, regardless of the competitiveness of the contests.
The 2017 tour of New Zealand had an average crowd of 34,327 across 10 games. The last (normal, as in no Covid) tour of South Africa was in 2009 and it had an average crowd of 34,793. Even before the masses descended on the MCG, this tour was averaging 40,364 per game.
Put it another way – when a great New Zealand team took the Lions to the cleaners in 2005, the combined attendance for the first two Tests was less than the total number at the MCG. Australia has the stadium capacity to go larger and make more revenue than any other tour. As long as that is the case, the Lions will always come here. It’s the economy, stupid.
And it is 2-0 to the Lions, as we expected in one sense, but not at all what we expected in another.
Thrilling and coronary-inducing – exactly as it should be.
