France want regular Lions games – Benazzi

The strength of the club game in France and the chance for Lions fans to follow the team at relatively low cost has increased calls for it to be added to the Lions calendar.

“We start with this, but I don’t want it to be just one shot,” FFR vice-president Abdelatif Benazzi told BBC Sport about discussions around the 2027 and 2029 fixtures.

“I think we can build something for the long term.”

Former France forward Benazzi and Nicolas Hourquet, the FFR’s director of international relations, met Lions officials in Dublin last month before the touring side’s warm-up match against Argentina.During the current tour of Australia, Lions officials put pressure on the Wallabies to release more high-profile international players for the tour matches amid concerns about how competitive they would be.

The Lions beat Australia’s four Super Rugby teams by an average of 27.5 points, before sealing a series win with victory in the first two Tests against the Wallabies.

Benazzi says France has no intention of disrupting the usual rotation of Lions tours, which alternate between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa every four years.

Instead he hopes the new global calendar, that begins next year with the first edition of the biennial Nations Cup, will create opportunities.

“Of course, we don’t touch the legacy in the south – you keep that,” added Benazzi.

“We have a lot of projects. We want to see what to expect with the United States – maybe we have a possibility to play there – maybe in Paris or London. We are just thinking about ideas.