British and Irish Lions to cut fixtures for next tour to South Africa in 2021

According to the Guardian newspaper, the 2021 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa will be cut to eight matches, but future tours could revert to 10 matches.

The decision to axe two fixtures from the 2021 tour reportedly follows sustained pressure from England's Premiership clubs over players' workloads.

"Each tour will be looked at on its merits," an unnamed administrator told the Guardian.

"We will be keeping an open mind. A shorter tour means longer preparation time and clearly had the Lions been in South Africa this year, it is unlikely that there would have been the 10 meaningful fixtures that there were in New Zealand, where the strength of the warm-up teams meant the Lions went into the test series battle-hardened."

Future tours could, however, revert to 10 fixtures, with the four unions who contribute Lions players keeping their options open. The 2025 tour to Australia is also likely to be eight fixtures but the 2029 tour of New Zealand could involve 10 matches due to the strength of the game there.