Coaching great Sir Ian McGeechan fears the British and Irish Lions’ chances of success against the Wallabies could be jeopardised by reduced preparation time.

McGeechan, coach of the last successful Lions party in South Africa in 1997, says the Lions are the biggest drawcard in world rugby yet they have been handed a reduced lead-in to the three-Test tour to Australia.

Both the English Premiership and the RaboDirect Pro12 League finals take place on Saturday, May 25 – 24 hours before the Lions depart for their six-week trip, the shortest lead-in time to a Lions tour in their 125-year history.

On top of that, the French Top 14 title decider will be held on June 1, the day the Lions play the first of their 10 matches against the Barbarians in Hong Kong, which will almost certainly rule Toulon’s Jonny Wilkinson out of the reckoning when head coach Warren Gatland unveils his squad on Tuesday.

“For the players, the Lions is the biggest jersey they can wear,” McGeechan said. “All I would like to see is rugby administrators giving them the best fighting chance with an extra week’s preparation.

“The first two or three weeks will be critical in Warren Gatland being able to get all the players together and on the same wavelength.

“By week five, you are looking at preparing for a Test match. My philosophy was to give every player the opportunity to show what he can do in a Lions jersey so they have to be playing in those first four weeks.

“As a coach, not only is time a challenge but so actually keeping your powder dry as to what you think the best combinations are and then really going for it that week before the Test match.”

Despite the plethora of international matches and increasing focus on the World Cup, McGeechan believes the Lions tour remains as relevant as ever.

“If you’ve got a team that go halfway around the world and take 35,000 people with it to support it then, in the year it exists, it’s the biggest team in world rugby,” he said.

“It’s bigger than the All Blacks – it’s an absolute phenomenon.

“When the game went professional in 1997, the tour was a critical one and winning that series in South Africa established the Lions when there were question marks about whether they could exist in a professional era.

“They’ve just gone from strength to strength. For Australia, they see it as their biggest rugby event. There’s a big impact on the countries where the Lions go.”