This Lions Tour starts with scrolls, not scrums, while players names are finally stitched into history
As the British & Irish Lions prepare for their first warm up game today (June 20) against Argentina’s Los Pumas, the squad are focusing on broadening its reach to younger audiences.
In collaboration with TikTok, the Lions will focus on building rugby content for fans on the social media platform throughout its warm up games and the three test matches against Australia.
Every four years, the best rugby players from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland converge to compete against teams from the Southern Hemisphere, and TikTok has been brought on board to deliver exclusive access to the team.
Shared via #Lions2025, TikTok users will also be able to watch behind the scenes footage from the squad, which will begin today with TikTok creators from the UK and Ireland – Andrew Nolan (The Rugby Nause) and Jim Flano – gaining access to offer an inside look and offer new perspectives of player’s lives within the Lions squad.
Shane Whelan, Director of Digital, Marketing & Communications at The British & Irish Lions, said: “We are incredibly excited to partner with TikTok for the upcoming Qatar Airways Lions Men’s Tour to Australia 2025.
“Both on and off the pitch we have big ambitions and TikTok is a priority platform for us as we look to reach more fans than ever before. This partnership forms an integral part of our most-ambitious ever social and content plan for a Lions Tour.”
As Whelan highlighted, the Lions’ presence on TikTok is a strategy to help expand its visibility and presence on the global social media platform, in particular younger people with one in four TikTok users under 20-years-old.
Speaking exclusively to Insider Sport, Sky Sports Rugby Presenter Alex Payne revealed how Sky Sports are attempting to garner more attention from younger audiences, with reports revealing rugby’s viewership amongst younger people is dwindling, and how Henry Pollock may serve as the catalyst for this.
Behind-the-scenes of crafting the Lions jersey
Throughout its 136-year history, the British & Irish Lions have been renowned for their iconic red jersey. Today, kit supplier Canterbury pulled the curtain back to reveal how the jersey was designed.
The 2025 tour of Australia will be the first time in Lions history that each player’s names and numbers will be printed on the back of their jerseys, with Canterbury showing behind-the-scenes footage of the process.
“Being a Lion is the pinnacle achievement in a rugby player’s career. At Canterbury, we have worked to create an innovative and iconic jersey which will be remembered for generations to come,” said Simon Rowe, Senior Vice President at Canterbury of New Zealand.
“By having each players’ name and number proudly printed on the shirts, we are commemorating the immense lifetime of effort it has taken to get them to this stage.”
Focus on player optimisation
During the tour down under, the British & Irish Lions squad will continue to utilise Kitman Labs’ Performance Medicine and Performance Optimisation solutions.
Having already been used by the England Rugby Football Union (RFU) and Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), the Lions will integrate the Intelligence Platform to access unified medical and performance data in a singular platform.
The platform aggregates all data and sources converting into practical insights and actionable intelligence that can be employed across the Lions squad to analyse player wellbeing and performance outcomes.
“We’re excited that Kitman Labs will be used by The British & Irish Lions for the third successive Tour,” said Stephen Smith, CEO & Founder of Kitman Labs.
“Working with the IRFU and the RFU has shown us that rugby union is fully embracing the application of data and technology and this is another example of rugby organisations uniting to unlock player health and performance outcomes on the regional, national and international stages.”
