After announcing that Gerald Davies will manage the 2009 tour to South Africa, the Lions today secured a £4m sponsorship deal from HSBC, but both the tourists and the backers accept that the tour has to be a distinct improvement on the abortive 2005 visit to New Zealand if rugby's best-known brand is to survive let alone thrive.

Ever since the onset of professionalism 12 years ago, many involved in the game have said that the Lions are living on borrowed time, but the team made up of players from the four home unions have defied those who believe them to be an anachronism, by attracting substantial investment and an army of travelling support: 50,000 visiting fans are expected to travel to South Africa after 30,000 went to New Zealand.

Although the former Wales wing Davies, a tourist to South Africa in 1968 and to New Zealand three years later, has already been confirmed as tour manager, the head coach will not be chosen until after the end of next year's Six Nations championship. Only then will the Lions committee - which will be chaired by the former Scotland full-back Andy Irvine after the resignation of Bill Beaumont following his election as vice-chairman of the International Rugby Board - decide whether to take as large a playing and management party as that conscripted by Sir Clive Woodward two years ago.

Davies accepted that the series whitewash in 2005, with the Lions a distinct second to the All Blacks, had tarnished the image of the tourists. "That followed a disappointing tour in 2001 and there is no doubt that we need to redeem ourselves in South Africa," he said. "By that, I mean ensuring that the three-match Test series is competitive. Another one-sided rubber will not serve our worthy cause.

"But what should not be forgotten is that the Lions is about far more than what happens on the field. It is a unique concept in the world of rugby, four countries coming together for a demanding tour. One mistake which was made on the last two tours was not to get the players out and about: there is a missionary element to these trips and in recent times everything has been a bit too serious. It is important that we have smiles on our faces."

Davies said that there was no favourite for the coach's position. "The Lions committee will meet in January to set up a plan of action," he added. "All the four home unions will be invited to nominate candidates and we are able to look outside the Six Nations. There is no nationality bar and we will have a completely open mind. It is all about finding the best man for the job. Once the coach is appointed, we will then talk about the size of the squad he wants and the make-up of his management team. The position of head coach is the most important one we have to make and we will be very thorough in how we go about it."

HSBC replace Zurich as the Lions' main sponsors. The deal, which runs until the end of the tour, will see the bank invest in grassroots rugby in South Africa. Giles Morgan, the company's head of sponsorship, is flying to the Republic next week to get things moving. "We are working closely with the South African Rugby Union and the government there," he said. "While we are sponsoring the Lions we are a worldwide business, and in all our dealings in sport we have had a policy of working from the bottom up. It is too early to say how much we will be ploughing into the game in South Africa, but it will be a significant amount. We jumped at the chance to sponsor the Lions because, as far as we are concerned, rugby is the ultimate sport to be involved with."

HSBC's chief executive in the UK, Dyfrig John, said he did not see the sponsorship as a one-off deal. "We will review the agreement going forward and there is scope for future involvement," he said. "Clearly, we hope the tour is more successful than the last one, but we will not measure the success of this partnership by how the Lions fare in the Test series. I see it as the coming together of two strong brands and the Lions have always been about more than what happens on a rugby field. They are an institution and the rapturous reaction of our staff when we told them of our involvement said it all."

The Lions also remain vital to the three major southern hemisphere unions, even though they only receive the tourists every 12 years. They provide unions with badly-needed revenue and the large contingent of travelling support bolsters tourism. "There is nothing like the Lions," said the Springboks' World Cup-winning captain John Smit. "Rugby has changed a lot in the professional era, but it has not shed its traditions like other sports. The Lions still have a huge role to play. When they were last in our country, we were the world champions. We will be again in 2009 and it promises to be an absorbing series."