Twelve years in the making – the ultimate rugby grudge match hits the GIO Stadium Canberra field on 9 July.
The ACT Brumbies will take on the British and Irish Lions, who will seek revenge for their 12-14 loss against the Canberra team in 2013.
One of the Brumbies’ players who was lucky enough to be part of that last tour, as well as the upcoming series, is lock Cadeyrn Neville.
At a press conference on 30 June, Neville said when the stadiums were packed to the rafters “it’s a whole new atmosphere, especially hearing Lions chants the whole game”.
“And it’s just going to be a really high-intensity quality game. It should be great on all fronts,” he told media.
Neville told CD one of his memories of the 2013 tour was there were players of all different experiences – including some who were part of the Wallabies (Australia’s national men’s rugby union team), to those who were less experienced.
“They’re all getting to face an opposition of that quality, it’s awesome. It’s a great opportunity just to test your wares and go out and give it your best shot,” he told CD.
CD asked how it felt to host a match in Canberra.
“Awesome, we’ve been pretty proud of what we’ve been able to achieve for a decent period of time here,” he said.
“So, this will be the best test we’ll get for any period of time really.
“So, to go out and demonstrate what this team and club is about, I think we’re all excited.”
The ACT Brumbies reached the semi-finals in the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season.
In Australia, the British and Irish Lions will play matches in Canberra, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide.
Some of the Brumbies players will take up Wallabies duties during the series, while Barunggam man Andy Muirhead has been selected for the First Nations and Pasifika XV team.
Neville said these opportunities made the club proud.
“Hopefully it’s the ones wearing the Wallabies jersey lifting a trophy at the end of that,” he told CD.
“The famous victory here 12 years ago, we’re definitely looking to emulate that again.”
CD asked Neville how important it was to be part of a tour of this kind.
“It’s awesome. I’ve seen a lot of promos before this talking about a lot of great careers that never quite lined up with getting to experience this,” he said.
“So, we feel very fortunate that firstly, to play long enough, you know 12 to 13 years to cover that span, and that those series fit within that span as well.
“Firstly, lucky to be able to do that and then just give it my best crack.”
Since the press conference was held, the Brumbies announced that Neville had extended his contract with the club until the end of 2026.
The club also revealed that backs Ben O’Donnell and Jack Debreczeni would depart the club in the coming weeks.
Tickets for the Canberra match, which has a kick-off time of 7:45pm, can be purchased at: giostadiumcanberra.com.au/gio-stadium-event/act-brumbies-v-british-irish-lions
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