British Lions die-hard fans Dave Primrose and Jim Roy will be celebrating the tour with former Wallaby Ben Alexander (centre) at The Dock’s special event. Photo: Claire Fenwicke.
An ocean of red will descend on Canberra next month as the legendary British Lions tour comes to Australia for the first time in 12 years.
The ACT Government has declared match day (9 July) a special event, meaning every Canberra venue that serves liquor on its premises will have its licence automatically extended until 2 am.
But the party will start much earlier at The Dock in Kingston as part of an event to raise money for local rugby union clubs.
Fans couldn’t travel to support the last Lions tour to South Africa in 2021 because of pandemic restrictions.
The Dock co-owner Ben Alexander said all that passion and excitement would be welcomed at the venue’s fanzone.
“One of the greatest world sporting traditions is a Lions tour. They do it every four years but only come to Australia once every 12,” he said.
“Outside the World Cup, it’s the biggest thing in rugby.”
The event will feature Q&A panels with rugby greats, including 2013 captain Peter Kimlin, Patricio Noreiga, Pat McCabe, Ben Alexander and Matt To’omua.
Fans can mingle with past tour legends from 2001 and 1989, enjoy an outdoor bar with Guinness on tap, visit the Brumbies official merchandise tent with limited edition tour gear, and tackle rugby songs, a pie-eating contest and live auctions of exclusive rugby memorabilia.
The event will be emceed by Rugby Unity Podcast co-host Dave Pembroke.
He saw the special event declaration as a chance for Canberra to set the standard in sporting hospitality.
“It will be a rugby celebration ahead of what will be a great competition, because we have the best team in Australia, and we have this incredible record against them,” Mr Pembroke said.
“We beat [the Lions] in 2013, we should have beaten them in 2001 – we only just got pipped at the post – so they’ll be looking forward to it, we’ll be looking forward to it, and it’ll just be a wonderful celebration.
“I hope we can set a standard here … where Lions fans for years are talking about ‘how good was Canberra?'”
Brumbies players also hope events across Canberra will bring together fans who missed out on tickets and channel their spirit to the stadium.
“We’ve only just bowed out of the Super Rugby competition … we’re still fit, healthy, still well prepped, so now we can really turn our attention to the Lions, which is exciting,” Brumbies winger Ben O’Donnell said.
“We’ll know [Brumbies fans] will be cheering from afar and close. But I think if we can drown them out in the stadium, that would be very helpful for another Brumbies win, hopefully.”
Don’t expect die-hard Lions fans to be cheering for the blue and gold this year, even if they are Canberrans.
Former Scot Dave Primrose described the entire tour, and its visit to Canberra, as the “ultimate in rugby”.
“The Lions is a mythological beast in a way … it’s this mythical thing that happened in faraway lands,” he said.
“Now here we are in that faraway land, they’re coming here in a couple of weeks’ time.”
For strangers to the game, former south Welshman Jim Roy explained the British Lions tour was something that brought the UK together.
“You can be the best player in your position for 10 years, in Wales or Scotland or England or Ireland, but you still might not be a British Lion. There are World Cup winners who’ve never been British Lions,” he said.
“So I think mythical is exactly right in terms of the cultural status it holds.”
Night-time Economy Minister Tara Cheyne hoped the special event declaration would bring together Canberrans as well.
“The British and Irish Lions have a huge following that go with them on tour all over the world, they’re coming to Australia in droves, and we want to ensure they’re going to have the best time possible,” she said.
“Venues that haven’t engaged with the special events declaration before may wish to trial it out with this event, to see if it is helpful for them to stay open a little bit later.
“Even if rugby is not your thing, the atmosphere is really something, and this is probably as big as you can get when it comes to atmosphere.”
The Dock Fanzone event starts at 12 pm on Wednesday, 9 July, with buses heading out to GIO Stadium at 5:30 pm. The British Lions v Brumbies game will be on the big screen at The Dock, along with State of Origin Game 3.
