Four scrum sleds, 53 truck journeys – logistics of a Lions tour

Third Test: Australia vs. the British and Irish Lions

Date: Saturday, August 2nd, 2018 Accor Stadium Kick-off: 11:00 BST

Boiling four nations into a single team, developing a game plan in four weeks, and testing the temperature of enemy territory during a test match.

For both players and coaches, a Lions tour is special.

However, for the team behind it, a whistle-stop schedule, vast distances, and a myriad of unknowns create a potential disaster.

Tom Day, a member of the team that is safely waiting for the tourists’ final stop, is a part of the team to prevent it.

The Lions have a lot of baggage; they brought almost 10 tons of it with them to Australia.

It is divided into four sets of identical training kits that were then distributed around Australia. A lorry container of equipment, including a scrum sled, is located on the side of the pitch where the Lions will arrive to aid their preparation.

One set of kit will always be ahead of us and the set-up of kit yo-yo around the country, ensuring that when we leave a city, everything is ordered and hotels and training facilities are already set up, according to Day.

Additionally, he belongs to an advance party that is one step ahead of the ground team. Before the players arrive, Day works with a member of the security team to get any unexpected creases that have developed since recce trips in September and January fixed.

The Lions will return home with a series win, but without their kit after Saturday’s third Test in Sydney.

A Lions tour has a high carbon cost due to its long-haul nature.

Every passenger on a return flight from London to Sydney burns about 2,484 kg of carbon dioxide, just from fuel consumption. Nearly three times as harmful is the emissions at ground level as they are at high altitude.