Murrayfield to host 16,500 fans for British & Irish Lions clash with Japan

The British & Irish Lions will host a crowd of 16,500 at Murrayfield for their curtain-raising Test against Japan, prior to their departure to South Africa this summer.

It will be the largest crowd to attend an international match since March 2020, but tickets have been sold to 50,000 fans prior to the Lions putting a block on sales as it anticipated restrictions being in place.

That means the Lions will have to issue refunds to over 33,500 ticket holders, with confirmation to come next Friday (May 28) to those who will be able to attend the match on June 26 – the same day on which the Premiership final will be played.

The Lions will take on World Cup quarter-finalists Japan before their embark on their eight-match tour of South Africa to conclude on August 7 at Johannesburg’s FNB Stadium.

“It will be brilliant to see a passionate crowd back at Murrayfield for what promises to be a superb game of rugby before we embark on the Tour to South Africa,” said Ben Calveley, the Lions’ managing director.

“We are very grateful to the Scottish Government for its commitment and support to ensure this fixture would be seen by a live audience.”

Meanwhile, after the Lions contacted fans who had planned to travel to South Africa last month to offer four options on what to do next, the South African government suspended contact sport in all schools to limit the spread of Covid-19, just a few weeks before the Lions are due to travel.

The tour is currently set to be played behind closed doors, though SA Rugby president Mark Alexander in understood to have met with country’s ministry for sport last week to hold talks over fan attendance and logistical complexities.

This comes after the tour schedule was revised to exclude the cities of Durban, Port Elizabeth and Nelspruit from hosting provincial matches as originally planned. Efforts to keep the Lions bio-bubble secure mean they will now plan tour matches in Johannesburg and Cape Town only.