In 2005 the British and Irish Lions will tour New Zealand, for the first time since 1993, having toured Australia in 2001 and South Africa in 1997. The Lions will play three test matches against the All Blacks and several tour matches against other teams.

The team will be managed by former England international Bill Beaumont, coached by former England coach Sir Clive Woodward and captained by Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll.

Contents

1 Schedule 2 Tour squad 3 Management 4 External links

Schedule

The Lions will play three test matches and several tour matches. The quality of the opposition in the tour matches is expected to be high.

Match A	23 May 2005	Argentina	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Match 1	4 June 2005	Bay of Plenty	Rotorua International Stadium, Rotorua
Match 2	8 June 2005	Taranaki	Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth
Match 3	11 June 2005	NZ Maori	Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
Match 4	15 June 2005	Wellington	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Match 5	18 June 2005	Otago	Carisbrook, Dunedin
Match 6	21 June 2005	Southland	Rugby Park Stadium, Invercargill
Match 7	25 June 2005	1st Test	Jade Stadium, Christchurch
Match 8	28 June 2005	Manawatu	Arena Manawatu, Palmerston North
Match 9	2 July 2005	2nd Test	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Match 10	5 July 2005	Auckland	Eden Park, Auckland
Match 11	9 July 2005	3rd Test	Eden Park, Auckland

Tour squad

The tour 44-man squad was announced on 11 April 2005. 20 Englishmen, 11 Irishmen, 10 Welshmen and 3 Scots were selected. Many criticised this selection saying that when England had performed so badly in the 2004 and 2005 six nations championship the selection of so many Englishmen was unjustified. However many of these might be seen as squad players, unlikely to start the test matches, having experience in the tough competition of the Zurich Premiership.

Injured England players Jonny Wilkinson, Phil Vickery and Mike Tindall may be added to the squad subject to medical examinations later in the year. It is expected that as on previous tours, additional players will be called up when some of these suffer injury.

• Neil Back
• Iain Balshaw
• Gordon Bulloch
• Shane Byrne
• Gareth Cooper
• Martin Corry
• Chris Cusiter
• Lawrence Dallaglio
• Gordon D'Arcy
• Matt Dawson
• Will Greenwood
• Danny Grewcock
• John Hayes
• Gavin Henson
• Denis Hickie
• Richard Hill
• Charlie Hodgson
• Shane Horgan
• Gethin Jenkins
• Stephen Jones
• Ben Kay
• Josh Lewsey
• Lewis Moody
• Geordan Murphy
• Donnacha O'Callaghan
• Paul O'Connell
• Brian O'Driscoll (captain)
• Ronan O'Gara
• Malcolm O'Kelly
• Michael Owen
• Dwayne Peel
• Jason Robinson
• Graham Rowntree
• Tom Shanklin
• Andy Sheridan
• Ollie Smith
• Matt Stevens
• Simon Taylor
• Gareth Thomas
• Steve Thompson
• Andy Titterrell
• Julian White
• Martyn Williams
• Shane Williams

Management

There will be 26 back room staff. After problems with the midweek team feeling dissilusioned in 2001, the midweek team will get their own coaches.

• Bill Beaumont: Tour manager
• Sir Clive Woodward: Head coach
• Louise Ramsay MBE: Team manager
• Andy Robinson: Coach
• Eddie O'Sullivan : Coach
• Ian McGeechan: Coach
• Gareth Jenkins : Coach
• Phil Larder : Defensive coach
• Mike Ford : Defensive coach
• Dave Alred : Kicking coach
• Dave Reddin : Fitness Coach
• Craig White: Fitness Coach
• David McHugh : Specialist Advisor (referee)
• Tony Biscombe: Video Analyst
• Gavin Scott: Video Analyst
• Dr James Robson: Head Doctor
• Dr Gary O'Driscoll: Doctor
• Phil Pask: Physiotherapist
• Stuart Barton: Physio / Masseur
• Bob Stewart: Physio / Masseur
• Richard Wegrzyk: Masseur
• John Feehan: Chief Executive
• Richard Smith: Legal Support
• Louisa Cheetham: Media Officer
• Dave Campbell: Chef
• Dave Tennison: Kit Technician

External links

• Official site
• fansite