British and Irish Lions Women to play France at Principality Stadium on 27 August

The British and Irish Lions will play their first women's fixture against France at Cardiff's Principality Stadium on Friday, 27 August (19:30 BST) as a curtain-raiser to their 2027 tour to New Zealand. Jo Yapp will coach the side for that match and the subsequent tour.

Lions head coach Jo Yapp played at three World Cups with England. Men's Lions tours, featuring players from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, have taken place since 1888. The women's team will travel to New Zealand for a five-match tour that features Tests in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, and the Cardiff match is intended as a send-off in front of a large home crowd.

France, ranked fourth in the world, will be the Lions' opponents in Cardiff; they were semi-finalists at the 2025 World Cup and have finished as runners-up to England in the last seven Six Nations championships. Last month France beat Australia and Canada in home fixtures in the WXV Global Series.

Reflecting on the occasion, Yapp said: "There are moments in sport that only come around once - and this is one of them." She added: "For our British and Irish Lions Women's team to step on to the field for the first time, on home soil and in front of our fans, is going to be incredibly special."

Carol Isherwood, chair of the Lions women's committee, said: "It will be a tremendous rugby match and occasion." She also said: "It's a chance to grow the game and leave a legacy so that we are able to continue with the Lions team by setting the foundations and give everybody the chance to see the women's game at its very best." Isherwood captained Great Britain in 1986.

Isherwood pointed to the potential crowd and visibility for the women's game, noting a Wales women's home record crowd of 21,186 for the 2025 Six Nations match against England at the Principality Stadium. "I've been there for some England men's games and the noise is fabulous. It'll be great if it is a sea of red for the Lions and not just Wales," she said.

On the challenge of assembling players from four unions, Isherwood said: "We're bringing the best of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales players together and you've got a really tough job to unify them very quickly and get them on the same page." She added: "It's like bringing the Harlem Globetrotters together, but you've had no time and they'll all come from different systems."

The Lions have previously met France once, when the men's side won a friendly in Paris in 1989, and Isherwood acknowledged the Cardiff fixture will be a tough test. She also referenced recent men's results on home soil, noting draws and defeats in fixtures such as the 2005 draw with Argentina in Cardiff and last year's loss to the Pumas in Dublin.

27 August, Cardiff, Principality Stadium, v France 4 Sept, Whangarei, Semenoff Stadium, v Black Ferns XV 11 Sept, first Test - Auckland, Go Media Stadium, v Black Ferns 14 Sept, Hamilton, FMG Stadium Waikato, v Invitational XV 18 Sept, second Test - Wellington, Sky Stadium, v Black Ferns 25 Sept, third Test - Christchurch, One NZ Stadium, v Black Ferns