Lions v All Blacks tour set for major change as leaked document exposes crisis

The 2029 British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand could feature a four-Test series, with one match potentially staged at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia. Leaked documents revealed New Zealand Rugby projects a £28m loss over the next five years, prompting discussions about major schedule adjustments to maximize incoming revenue.

Moving a fixture to the 90,000-capacity Melbourne venue would offer significantly higher attendance than Auckland's Eden Park. Additional considerations include potential tour warmup matches against France and Italy, alongside wider proposals for New Zealand to overhaul or abandon Super Rugby Pacific.