ESPN unveils plans for British and Irish Lions’ tour of Australia

ESPN has released its plans for its rugby coverage of the British and Irish Lions’ tour of Australia. ESPNscrum, which serves rugby union fans with an informative and entertaining mix of news, live minute-by-minute match coverage and live scores, will combine with ESPN Classic to provide fans a comprehensive Lions line-up.

Online and on mobile, ESPNscrum coverage of the tour will be led by assistant editor Tom Hamilton, who will be on the ground in Australia for the duration of the Lions’ tour, providing a mix of features, analysis and interviews in addition to a tour diary as the Lions look to win their first tour series since the visit to South Africa in 1997. This will be supported by ESPN’s London and Sydney-based rugby writers bringing fans team news, previews, live match coverage and analysis.

 A host of podcasts and video content will feature on the site, including a discussion between ESPN rugby presenter Mark Durden-Smith and ESPN’s former Lion Austin Healey about the 2001 tour – the last time the Lions (including Healey) visited Australia.

Ross Hair, Managing Director, ESPN, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said: “The Lions tour only comes around once every four years, and we’ll be making the most of it with coverage online and on television. Fans will be able to keep up with all the latest news and updates from Down Under, and relive some of the great Lions moments from down the years.”

Fans will also be able to test their rugby management skills against each other with the ESPNscrum Fantasy Rugby – 2013 Tour Game. Readers will also get the chance to take part in an interactive poll to establish the nation’s favourite Lions players, tries, moments and coaches, with a new voting category announced each week during the tour.

ESPNscrum’s detailed match reports and updates will be accompanied by in-depth features discussing and dissecting the performances of the teams, while “where are they now?” articles will look back at the 1989 and 2001 Lions squads that toured Australia.