Warren Gatland set to lead British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand

The British and Irish Lions are to announce that Warren Gatland will lead next summer's tour to New Zealand at a press conference in Edinburgh at lunchtime on Wednesday.

Gatland will participate in a third successive tour and his second as head coach after masterminding the 2-1 series victory over Australia in 2013, the Lions' first success for 16 years.

This follows Tuesday’s announcement that All Blacks players will be available for three of the Lions' warm-up games before the Test series starts.

The arduous 10-fixture schedule facing the Lions has thus grown even more challenging and means that the Blues, Highlanders and Crusaders will all be at, or close to, full strength with the trio of fixtures taking place over seven days from June 7 to June 13.

Lion tourists have complained in the past that the teams they have faced prior to the Test games have failed to pose a credible challenge.

However, the Lions will have to be prepared to hit the ground running this time round.

In recent history, internationals have been rested to keep them fresh to face the Lions in the Test series, but selector Grant Fox insists New Zealand will adopt a different approach for 2017.

"The Super Rugby sides will be loaded up with All Blacks early because there's a bit of time from game one to the first Test," Fox told the New Zealand Herald.

"They need to play and then as we get closer to the Tests some of those franchises will have less access to the All Blacks as we start preparing for the series."

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Gatland expressed his concern about the schedule shortly before the RBS 6 Nations in January, when he and Ireland's Joe Schmidt were the leading contenders for the position.

"It's a really tough tour. I'm not saying the Lions can't win, it's just a tough schedule," Gatland said.

The Kiwi will begin his sabbatical from his job as Wales boss immediately by travelling to New Zealand on Thursday, accompanied by tour manager John Spencer to begin planning.

Gatland will undertake the role for one whole year, allowing him to focus fully on the test that the All Blacks pose.

The 52-year-old starts by dropping into the Rugby Championship this weekend and will be expected to follow New Zealand through their autumn tour, where they play Ireland twice, in Chicago and Dublin, with an Italy fixture in between and France on the last leg.

With Gatland absent from the Wales job, Rob Howley will move up into the head coach role.

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The last Lions tour to New Zealand, in 2005, was a blackwash. Andy Robinson, who was forwards coach, outlined on Tuesday what the tourists should expect in one year's time.

“The whole country is against you,” he said. “Not just the players and the staff but the government, local shopkeepers, the children. It is relentless.

“It is interesting that whenever New Zealand and Australian teams tour here in the autumn, we roll out the red carpet for them. You don’t get any of that there. You know that everybody wants to beat you and they will do whatever they can to do it.”

The 2017 tour includes five fixtures against Super Rugby sides with the Chiefs and Hurricanes completing the list, an opener against a provincial union team, a clash with the New Zealand Maori and three Tests.

Additional reporting by PA.