Supporters of the British and Irish Lions rugby team cheer before the first test against the All Blacks at Jade Stadium in Christchurch in 2005.

OPINION: South Island fans need to give New Zealand Rugby a blunt message that two British and Irish Lions tests in Auckland won't be tolerated long-term.

It was hardly a state secret that Christchurch would be overlooked for a Lions test in 2017. A shoehorn would be needed to get more than 20,000 into AMI Stadium at Addington.

Eden Park can hold 50,000 - twice as many as Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium, the big loser in this latest announcement.

Christchurch and Dunedin have got crumbs from the NZ Rugby table, hosting games involving the Lions and the Crusaders and Highlanders, respectively.

NZ Rugby chief executive Steve Tew says it would be "a considerable struggle for Dunedin to cope with the logistics of the hordes" of travelling Lions fans.

It's doubtful the Dunedin City Council and tourism sector would share his sincere concern.

Tew and his board have basically made a business decision. Fifty-thousand, (mainly British or Irish), bums on seats in Auckland is double the gate they'd get south of Cook Strait.

Their rationale is final proof, if ever it was needed, that All Blacks rugby is a brand, first and foremost, and a sport - with all its rich traditions - second.

How long before Eden Park becomes NZ Rugby's national stadium? How long until someone in a shiny suit points out: "the England rugby team never plays outside Twickenham, so get used to the All Blacks playing all their big games in Auckland?"

No-one could argue with Tew's claim that Christchurch's current stadium is "just simply not up to this level of fixture". But, remember the movie adage?: "If you build it, they will come." Well, NZ Rugby have changed the script - "not if you build it in Dunedin".

Dunedin's beleaguered ratepayers have paid for the best sporting stadium in New Zealand. There's an inherent responsibility for rugby to play its part in helping Dunedin recoup the cost of its investment.

The deep south is now New Zealand rugby's stronghold after the Highlanders' Super Rugby title win. The rugby community, let alone the region as a whole, deserve recognition.

How many British and Irish fans will venture south between June 10 and 13, 2017 to watch the Lions' dirt-trackers play the Crusaders and Highlanders? Most will time their arrival until closer to the first test in Auckland on June 24, with the early birds more likely to stick around Auckland before heading to Rotorua to wallow in its hot pools and watch the Lions and New Zealand Maori on June 17.

Tew will argue that NZ Rugby does care about the South Island because it's granted Christchurch a Springboks test in 2016 and Dunedin a Bledisloe Cup game the following season.

But Lions tests are rugby's plums. They only come around once every 12 years and they draw many more visitors than run-of-the-mill Rugby Championship games.

Snubbing the south has ramifications right through the Mainland. Regions such as Nelson and Southland might have got mid-week matches if tests had been played in Christchurch and Dunedin. Where will the Lions go now for a pre-match feed of Bluff oysters?

North Island districts should be toey too. Why does Wellington get a mid-week game on June 27, four days before hosting the second test. Shouldn't the Hurricanes game have gone to Napier or Palmerston North?

It's not too late for NZR to add a fourth international to the Lions' programme. Two tests between the All Blacks and the Lions in Auckland and another in Wellington. And a test against the South Island in Dunedin.