1. Lions Tour to Australia: 28 June – 2 August
In June, the British & Irish Lions will travel Down Under for a nine-game tour. Before jetting off, they will play a warm-up fixture against Argentina in Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on 20 June. It will be the first time that the Lions will play in Ireland, and will be broadcast on Sky Sports as well as terrestrial television.
Under the management of Andy Farrell, the Australia Tour will begin with warm-up fixtures against Western Force, Queensland Reds, NSW Waratahs, the Brumbies, an invitational Australia and New Zealand selection and the Melbourne Rebels. The three Test matches against the Wallabies will be held in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.
The Lions last toured Australia in 2013, winning the series 2-1 after victory in the third Test.
2. Women’s Rugby World Cup: 22 August – 27 September
The Women’s Rugby World Cup kicks off on 22 August and after missing the last edition of the tournament, Ireland are back in action this time around.
They will open their pool stage against Japan in Franklin’s Gardens on 24 August. Ireland will be at the same venue again the following week to face Spain before closing out their Pool C campaign against the defending champions New Zealand at the Brighton and Hove Albion Stadium on 7 September.
Scott Bemand’s side earned a famous victory over the Black Ferns at the WXV1 in Canada, and will be hoping for a similar performance to boost their chances of reaching the quarter-finals.
3. Euro 2025: 2 July – 27 July
Although Ireland won’t be competing, Euro 2025 is still a sports event you should mark in your calendar for this year.
After making history by earning a first-ever qualification for a major tournament at the 2023 World Cup, Eileen Gleeson’s side were hoping to build on that legacy for Euro 2025.
They came close by earning a playoff battle against Wales and a chance to nab a late ticket to the tournament in Switzerland. The contest was still all square after a 1-1 draw in the first leg, but Wales struck the decisive blow in the second outing, winning 2-1 on the night at the Aviva Stadium and progressing 3-2 on aggregate.
4. World Athletics Championships: 13 September – 21 September
2024 was a superb year for Irish athletics both in the individual and team events. Rhasidat Adeleke became the first Irish woman to reach a sprint final at the Olympics where she was marginally denied a medal in that gripping 400m final.
Adeleke won a silver medal in the same event at the European Championships in Rome, and was also part of the women’s brilliant 4x400m relay team who also came up just short in their quest for a medal at the Olympics.
Sophie Becker, Phil Healy and Sharlene Mawdsley all ran brilliant legs to clock a new national record of 3:19.90 and take fourth in the final. That crew also won silver at the European Championships.
The 4x400m mixed relay team of Chris O’Donnell, Rhasidat Adeleke, Thomas Barr and Sharlene Mawdsley won a gold medal at the European Championships, as did Ciara Mageean in the final of the 1,500m. Mageean was then cruelly ruled out of the Olympics due to an Achilles injury.
The 2025 World Championships are in Tokyo where Ireland’s athletics stars will be on the hunt for more track success.
5. Ryder Cup: 26 September – 28 September
It’s a Ryder Cup year in 2025, and this time, America will be hosting the biennial event at the Bethpage Black Course in New York.
Europe are the reigning champions after their 2023 success in Italy after withstanding a late USA rally to win by 16.5 to 11.5.
Luke Donald will captain Europe again after overseeing that victory in Rome, while Keegan Bradley will lead USA.
6. All-Ireland Championships
As ever, we have All-Ireland finals across the four codes to look forward to in 2025.
Armagh will go in as the Sam Maguire holders after emerging as surprise champions in 2024. Clare are the Liam MacCarthy Cup holders after ending an 11-year wait following their heroic extra-time effort against Cork in Croke Park.
The Kerry Ladies also ended a long wait for All-Ireland glory in 2024, lifting the Brendan Martin Cup for the first time since 1993. The Cork camogie team will begin their hunt for an All-Ireland three-in-a-row in 2025 following a tight showdown against Galway this year.
7. Champions League Final: 31 May
Another of the annual staples for sports fans, the Champions League final will be one to look out for on 31 May. Real Madrid are the holders after their 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund which saw the Spanish Giants lift their 15th European trophy. This year’s decider will be held in Germany, at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
The competition is running on a new format this season, using a new 36-team league table rather than the old style of 32 teams in eight groups of four. This year’s tournament sees each side play eight different teams in a league phase, with four games being played at home and four away.
The top eight sides in the league phase qualify automatically for the round of 16 while the teams finishing in ninth to 24th will compete in a two-legged knockout phase play-off to progress to the last 16.
The remaining matchdays in the league phase will be held on 21-22 January and 29 January, with the draw for the play-offs taking place on Friday 31 January.
8. Republic of Ireland’s World Cup qualification campaign
Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side will begin their bid for inclusion at the 2026 World Cup. The qualifying draw took place in December where Ireland were placed in Group F alongside Hungary, Armenia and either Portugal or Denmark in their qualifying group.
The action gets underway in September with home and away fixtures against Hungary and Armenia. Two more games follow in October against Portugal/Denmark and Armenia and again in November, as Portugal/Denmark come to the Aviva Stadium before Ireland travel to Hungary.
In order to qualify, Ireland must either top the group or finish second to qualify for a play-off. A third-place finish or lower means elimination.
Why not play against Spain and Portugal in Madrid? Would get lots of fans traveling (Madrid lovely in late Sept/early Oct), and really good for these two countries development
@Andrew Slazenger: probably less valuable from a development perspective for Ireland though. Touring SA would serve younger players in future competitive tests, exposing them to the games at altitude against teams that are more hostile and experienced.
@Andrew Slazenger: would you rather drive a Ferrari or a Fiat Punto? What’s wrong with you man…!!!
@Stuart: Portugal beat Fiji, drew with Georgia and we’re excellent vs Wales in the World Cup, honestly I’d say they’re close the level of the Cheetahs
@Stuart: okay wow no need to knock the fiat punto
Absolutely understand the merits of the tour as a means of testing and integrating younger players into the international arena.
But I genuinely don’t understand the timing. Surely there are time slots where it wouldn’t hurt the clubs.
Also why not being back the wolfhounds.. similar concept but on free weeks around the 6Nations
@John Fitz: I’ve given up moaning about how much this effects all clubs AND provinces, no ones listening and no one (including the IRFU) gives two sh!t$ about the clubs (AIL). It was a great tour, big joe and Tom n the second row! Its like a look a potential national teams in 3 years time. I cheered from the sofa, and then didn’t go to the back pitch at Thomond like I should have
Select young u20s players etc who will not be playing urc games. Otherwise its a waste of time and a drain on provinces that dont have bloated squads like leinster.
@mike o’farrell: If you watched the game against the Cheetahs in the last tour – especially the scrum – it would be obvious that a U20 side would get slaughtered by this opposition. Also, fwiw, Leinster won’t have a more bloated squad than anybody else next season
IRFU devalueing the URC again. Why not bring back the wolfhounds and have them play England Saxons etc durning the 6 nations, or go on a summer tour to USA and Canada, the timing of this undermines what the URC is trying to do in not having games durning international windows so the best players can play for thier provinces more.
Think Ireland vs western force on 6th is an error should be province ..
@Stuart: The clue is in the article
@damien reidy: ah ok didn’t read it correctly , so emerging Ireland playing an Aussie side in SA too then ..that’s different alright ..
@Stuart: Andrew Forrest’s Western Force … Mining Contacts get doors open for you
@Stuart: Didn’t Argentina have a side in the Currie Cup in 2013-15 ?
@damien reidy: jeez I actually had to google that as haven’t watched Currie cup in years but yes looks like a Jaguares XV certainly competed in the Currie cup first division (one below premier) and won it .also a team from Zimbabwe, Kenya, Namibia, USA seem to be in that comp (first division).. interestung stuff
100% this should be done during international windows when no URC games are done.
Aside from touring a Ireland A/Development team will fill out Ravenhill, Donnybrook, Musgrave etc if they were playing Tier 2 European teams like Georgia, Spain on a Friday night.
Some players I would love to see in this squad include Sam P, Doak, Izzy, Forde, R Russell, Edogbo x 2, Gavin, Milne
It would have been better if this was organised during the off season of club rugby so younger players would get experience instead of in the middle of a season.
@sean o’farrell: they don’t call it the off season for no reason,:)
@anthony davoren: where else would you put it
Izzy would be better off starting for Ulster in their SA tour which runs pretty much at the same time.
@Justin Robinson: interesting point. Famously in the last Emerging Ireland Tour Ben Healy played on with Munster while Crowley went to SA. At the time Crowley was 3rd choice at Munster. On top of that many saw the tour as a vehicle to give Frawley game time at 10. Frawley got injured … the rest is history.
@Cormac McCarthy: Great. Flannery went on the tour as well and it didn’t do him much good. In fact, so was Izzy and he’s only just got back in the side two years later!
@Justin Robinson: given what we’ve seen of him, that is sort of mad
@Thesaltyurchin: Yes, he’s been a breath of fresh air. Had some time-keeping issues with Dan – he’s a pretty relaxed lad. Prior to that, he had an ACL injury in 2021. McCann was also used sparingly for a good while. There’s an argument that holding them back until they were fully ready has worked.
With the loss of the B & I Cup, there are far fewer opportunities for the younger players to show their talent. Big jump from AIL to URC top end. Also the time of year must suit the hosts.
@kieran horgan: Make the AIL great again
@kieran horgan: I think the working assumption of most people on this site is that the hosts will be happy to fit in with whatever the IRFU proposes.