Mbombela Stadium will in 2021 host the British & Irish Lions for the first time in history.

The team has toured South Africa on 13 previous occasions, with the first Tour taking place in 1891. In 2021 they will return for an eight game tour, that will span the length and breadth of South Africa, visiting some of the most impressive stadiums, like Mbombela Stadium.

The date has been set  and the British & Irish Lions will play South Africa ‘A’ on July 14 right here in Mpumalanga’s capital. Other stadiums that will be included are Cape Town Stadium,  Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Jonsson Kings Park, Loftus Versfeld, FNB Stadium, Cape Town Stadium and Emirates Airline Park.

FNB Stadium in Johannesburg will host the first test on Saturday July 24 and with a capacity of approximately 88 000 spectators, a sell-out crowd would be higher than the 84 188 who witnessed the series decider against the Wallabies in Sydney in 2001.

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The second Test follows a week later at the Cape Town Stadium – the first Lions test in the Mother City since 1997 – before the British and Irish tourists return to Gauteng for the final Test on Saturday August 7 at Emirates Airline Park.

The combined capacity for the three test venues is just below 205 000, which could make the three tests on the 2021 tour the best-attended since professionalism, potentially surpassing the 192 972 people who attended the three tests in Australia in 2013.

The eight-game schedule includes six weekend fixtures; three against Vodacom Super Rugby teams the Vodacom Bulls, Cell C Sharks and DHL Stormers, and two midweek fixtures against an invitational side in Port Elizabeth and South Africa ‘A’ in Mbombela.

Rassie Erasmus, SA director of rugby, said the keenly awaited tour was a once-in-a-lifetime playing opportunity for South African players.

Full 2021 tour schedule:

Saturday July 3: British & Irish Lions v DHL Stormers – Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
Wednesday July 7: British & Irish Lions v SA ‘Invitational’ – Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
Saturday July 10: British & Irish Lions v Cell C Sharks – Jonsson Kings Park, Durban
Wednesday July 14: British & Irish Lions v South Africa ‘A’ – Mbombela Stadium
Saturday July 17: British & Irish Lions v Vodacom Bulls – Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Saturday July 24 (first Test): Springboks v British & Irish Lions – FNB Stadium, Johannesburg
Saturday July 31 (second Test): Springboks v British & Irish Lions – Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
Saturday August 7 (third Test): Springboks v British & Irish Lions – Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg