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The British & Irish Lions^[1]

Unions	Rugby Football Union Irish Rugby Football Union Scottish Rugby Union Welsh Rugby Union
Nickname(s)	The Lions
Coach(es)	Warren Gatland (2017 tour)
Captain(s)	Sam Warburton (2017 tour)
Most caps	Willie John McBride (17)
Top scorer	Jonny Wilkinson (69)[2]
Most tries	Tony O'Reilly (6)[2]
Team kit
First match
Otago 3 – 8 Shaw & Shrewsbury Team (28 April 1888)
Largest win
Western Australia 10–116 British and Irish Lions (8 June 2001)
Largest test win
Argentina 0–46 British Lions (7 Aug 1927)
Largest defeat
New Zealand 38–6 British Lions (16 July 1983)
Largest test defeat
New Zealand 38–6 British Lions (16 July 1983)
Official website
www.lionsrugby.com
Current season
← 2013 2021 →

The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for any of the Home Nations – the national teams of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The Lions are a Test side, and generally select international players, but they can pick uncapped players available to any one of the four unions. The team currently tours every four years, with these rotating among Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. The 2009 Test series was lost 1–2 to South Africa, while the 2013 Test series was won 2–1 over Australia. The most recent series, the 2017 series against New Zealand, was drawn 1-1 (with one match drawn).

From 1888 onwards combined rugby sides from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland toured the Southern Hemisphere. The first tour was a commercial venture, and was undertaken without official backing.^[3] The six subsequent visits enjoyed a growing degree of support from the authorities, before the 1910 South Africa tour, which was the first tour representative of the four Home Unions.^[4] In 1949 the four Home Unions formally created a Tours Committee^[5] and for the first time, every player of the 1950 Lions squad had played internationally before the tour.^[6] The 1950s tours saw high win rates in provincial games, but the Test series were typically lost or drawn. The winning series in 1971 (New Zealand) and 1974 (South Africa) changed this pattern. The last tour of the amateur age took place in 1993. The Lions have also played occasional matches in the Northern Hemisphere either as one-off exhibitions or as an element of a tour which mostly took place in the Southern Hemisphere.

Naming and symbols

Team members

The multi-nation team that is today named the British and Irish Lions first came into existence in 1888 as the Shaw and Shrewsbury Team. It was then primarily English in composition but also contained players from Scotland and Wales. Later the team used the name British Isles. On their 1950 tour of New Zealand and Australia they officially adopted the name British Lions, the nickname first used by British and South African journalists on the 1924 South African tour^[5] after the lion emblem on their ties, the emblem on their jerseys having been dropped in favour of the four-quartered badge with the symbols of the four represented unions.

When the team first emerged in the 19th century, it represented the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, then one single state. The team continued to exist after the Irish war of independence and civil war and the subsequent division of Ireland in 1922 into the Irish Free State (later the Republic of Ireland) and Northern Ireland. To avoid ambiguity and possible offence to Irish players, it was later decided to define the team's identity as representing the two sovereign states – the United Kingdom and Ireland – with the team members being either "British" or "Irish". From the 2001 tour of Australia, the official name British and Irish Lions has been used. The team is often referred to simply as the Lions.

Team anthem

As the Lions represent two sovereign states, they do not have a national anthem. However, for the 1989 tour, the British national anthem "God Save the Queen" was used.^[7] For the 2005 tour to New Zealand, the Lions management commissioned a song, "The Power of Four", although it was met with little support among Lions fans at the matches and has not been used since.

Team colours and strip

For more than half a century, the Lions have been synonymous with the red jersey that sports the amalgamated crests of the four unions. However, prior to 1950 the strip went through a number of significantly different formats.^[8]

Unsanctioned tours

In 1888, the promoter of the first expedition to Australia and New Zealand, Arthur Shrewsbury, demanded "something that would be good material and yet take them by storm out here".^[9] The result was a jersey in thick red, white and blue hoops, worn above white shorts and dark socks. The tours to South Africa in 1891 and 1896 retained the red, white and blue theme but this time as red and white hooped jerseys and dark blue shorts and socks.^[9] The 1899 trip to Australia saw a reversion to red, white and blue jerseys, but with the blue used in thick hoops and the red and white in thin bands. The shorts remained blue, as did the socks although a white flash was added to the latter. The one-off test in 1999 between England and Australia that was played to commemorate Australia's first test against Reverend Matthew Mullineux's British side saw England wear an updated version of this jersey.^[9] In 1903, the South Africa tour followed on from the 1896 tour, with red and white hooped jerseys. The slight differences were that the red hoops were slightly thicker than the white (the opposite was true in 1896), and the white flash on the socks introduced in 1899 was partially retained.^[9] The Australia tour of 1904 saw exactly the same kit as in 1899, and it seemed that the British touring sides had settled on kits particular to the host destination. However, in 1908 with the Scottish and Irish unions refusing to be involved, the Anglo-Welsh side only sported red jerseys with a thick white band on their jerseys on tour to Australia and New Zealand.^[8] Blue shorts were retained, but the socks were for the first time red, with a white flash.

Blue jerseys, the Lions named and the crest adopted

The Lions crest adopted in 1924

The Scots were once again involved in Dr Tom Smyth's 1910 team to South Africa. Thus, dark blue jerseys, were introduced with white shorts and the red socks of 1908.^[9] The jerseys also had a single lion-rampant crest. The 1924 tour returned to South Africa, retaining the blue jerseys but now with shorts to match. It is the 1924 tour that is credited as being the first in which the team were referred to as "the Lions", the irony being that it was on this tour that the single lion-rampant crest was replaced with the forerunner of the four-quartered badge with the symbols of the four represented unions, that is still worn today. Although the lion had been dropped from the jersey, the players had worn the lion motif on their ties as they arrived in South Africa, which led the press and public referring to them as "the Lions".^[10]

The unofficial 1927 Argentina tour used the same kit and badge.^[8] So powerful was the attribution of "the Lions" nickname that three heraldic versions of the animal returned as the jersey badge in 1930.^[8] This was the tour to New Zealand where the tourists' now standard blue jerseys caused some controversy. The convention in rugby is for the home side to accommodate its guests when there is a clash of kit. The New Zealand side, by then already synonymous with the appellation "All Blacks", had an all black kit that clashed with the Lions' blue. After much reluctance and debate New Zealand agreed to change for the Tests and the All Blacks became the All Whites for the first time. On the 1930 tour a delegation led by the Irish lock George Beamish expressed their displeasure at the fact that whilst the blue of Scotland, white of England and red of Wales were represented in the strip there was no green for Ireland. A green flash was added to the socks, which from 1938 became a green turnover (although on blue socks thus eliminating red from the kit), and that has remained a feature of the strip ever since.^[11] In 1936, the four-quartered badge returned for the tour to Argentina and has remained on the kits ever since,^[8] but other than that the strip remained the same.

Red jerseys

The adoption of the red jersey happened in the 1950 tour. A return to New Zealand was accompanied by a desire to avoid the controversy of 1930 and so red replaced blue for the jersey with the resultant kit being that which is still worn today, the combination of red jersey, white shorts and green and blue socks, representing the four unions.^[12] The only additions to the strip since 1950 began appearing in 1993, with the addition of kit suppliers logos in prominent positions. Umbro had in 1989 asked for "maximum brand exposure whenever possible" but this did not affect the kit's appearance. Since then, Nike, Adidas and Canterbury have had more overt branding on the shirts, with sponsors Scottish Provident (1997), NTL (2001), Zurich (2005), HSBC (2009 and 2013)^[13][11] and Standard Life Investments (2017).^[14]

Jersey evolution

^[8]

1888

1891–1896

1899–1904

1908

1910–1938

1950–present

History

1888–1909

Shaw & Shrewsbury Team, 1888, The first British or Irish touring rugby team, a private-enterprise trip to Australia and New Zealand.

Despite its label as an England side, the team which toured South Africa in 1891 contained several Scots.

England v Cape Colony, 1891. The first match of the Bill MacLagan undefeated tour of South Africa.

The earliest tours date back to 1888, when a 21-man squad visited Australia and New Zealand. The squad drew players from England, Scotland and Wales, though English players predominated. The 35-match tour of two host nations included no tests, but the side played provincial, city and academic sides, winning 27 matches. They played 19 games of Australian rules football, against prominent clubs in Victoria and South Australia, winning six and drawing one of these (see Australian rules football in England).

The first tour, although unsanctioned by rugby bodies, established the concept of Northern Hemisphere sporting sides touring to the Southern Hemisphere. Three years after the first tour, the Western Province union invited rugby bodies in Britain to tour South Africa. Some saw the 1891 team – the first sanctioned by the Rugby Football Union – as the English national team, though others referred to it as "the British Isles". The tourists played a total of twenty matches, three of them tests. The team also played the regional side of South Africa (South Africa did not exist as a political unit in 1891), winning all three matches. In a notable event of the tour, the touring side presented the Currie Cup to Griqualand West, the province they thought produced the best performance on the tour.

Five years later a British Isles side returned to South Africa. They played one extra match on this tour, making the total of 21 games, including four tests against South Africa, with the British Isles winning three of them. The squad had a notable Irish orientation, with the Irish national team contributing six players to the 21-man squad.

In 1899 the British Isles touring side returned to Australia for the first time since the unofficial tour of 1888. The squad of 23 for the first time ever had players from each of the home nations. The team again participated in 21 matches, playing state teams as well as northern Queensland sides and Victorian teams. A four-test series took place against Australia, the tourists winning three out of the four. The team returned via Hawaii and Canada playing additional games en route.

Four years later, in 1903, the British Isles team returned to South Africa. The opening performance of the side proved disappointing from the tourists' point of view, with defeats in its opening three matches by Western Province sides in Cape Town. From then on the team experienced mixed results, though more wins than losses. The side lost the test series to South Africa, drawing twice, but with the South Africans winning the decider 8 to nil.

No more than twelve months passed before the British Isles team ventured to Australia and New Zealand in 1904. The tourists devastated the Australian teams, winning every single game. Australia also lost all three tests to the visitors, even getting held to a standstill in two of the three games. Though the New Zealand leg of the tour did not take long in comparison to the number of Australian games, the British Isles experienced considerable difficulty across the Tasman after whitewashing the Australians. The team managed two early wins before losing the test to New Zealand and only winning one more game as well as drawing once. Despite their difficulties in New Zealand, the tour proved a raging success on-field for the British Isles.

In 1908, another tour took place to Australia and New Zealand. In a reversal of previous practice, the planners allocated more matches in New Zealand rather than in Australia: perhaps the strength of the New Zealand teams and the heavy defeats of all Australian teams on the previous tour influenced this decision. Some commentators thought that this tour hoped to reach out to rugby communities in Australia, as rugby league (infamously) started in Australia in 1908. The Anglo-Welsh side (Irish and Scottish unions did not participate) performed well in all the non-test matches, but drew a test against New Zealand and lost the other two.

1910–1949

Visits that took place before the 1910 South Africa tour (the first selected by a committee from the four Home Unions) had enjoyed a growing degree of support from the authorities, although only one of these included representatives of all four nations. The 1910 tour to South Africa marked the official beginning of British Isles rugby tours: the inaugural tour operating under all four unions. The team performed moderately against the non-test parties, claiming victories in just over half their matches. The test series, however, went to South Africa, who won two of the three games. A side managed by Oxford University — supposedly the England rugby team, but actually including three Scottish players — toured Argentina at the time: the people of Argentina termed it the "Combined British".

The next British Isles team tour did not take place until 1924, again in South Africa. The team, led by Ronald Cove-Smith, struggled with injuries and lost three of the four test matches, drawing the other 3–3. In total, 21 games were played, with the touring side winning 9, drawing 3 and losing 9.

The British Lions before playing the 4th. test v. Argentina during their second tour to the country in 1927

In 1927 a short, nine-game series took place in Argentina, with the British isles winning all nine encounters; the tour did however become a financial success for Argentine rugby. After a seemingly long absence from New Zealand, the Lions returned in 1930 to some success. The Lions won all of their games that did not have test status except for the matches against Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury; they did however lose three of their four test matches against New Zealand, winning the first test 6–3. The side also visited Australia, losing a test but winning five out of the six non-test games.

In 1936 the British Isles visited Argentina for the third time, winning all ten of their matches and only conceding nine points in the whole tour. Two years later in 1938 the British Isles toured in South Africa, winning more than half of their normal matches. Despite having lost the test series to South Africa by game three, they won the final test. This is when they were named THE LIONS by their then Captain Sam Walker.

1950–1969

The first post-war tour went to New Zealand and Australia in 1950. The Lions, sporting newly redesigned jerseys and displaying a fresh style of play, managed to win 22 and draw one of 29 matches over the two nations. The Lions won the opening four fixtures before losing to Otago and Southland, but succeeded in holding the All Blacks to a 9–9 draw. The Lions performed well in the remaining All Black tests though they lost all three, the team did not lose another non-test in the New Zealand leg of the tour. The Lions won all their games in Australia except for their final fixture against a New South Wales XV in Newcastle. They won both tests against Australia, in Brisbane, Queensland and in Sydney.

In 1955 the Lions toured South Africa and left with another imposing record, one draw and 19 wins from the 25 fixtures. The four-test series against South Africa, a thrilling affair, ended in a drawn series.

The 1959 tour to Australia and New Zealand marked once again a very successful tour for the Lions, who only lost six of their 35 fixtures. The Lions easily won both tests against Australia and lost the first three tests against New Zealand, but did find victory (9–6) in the final test.

After the glittering decade of the 1950s, the first tour of the 1960s proved not nearly as successful as previous ones. The 1962 tour to South Africa saw the Lions still win 16 of their 25 games, but did not fare well against the Springboks, losing three of the four tests. For the 1966 tour to Australia and New Zealand John Robins became the first Lions Coach, and the trip started off very well for the Lions, who stormed through Australia, winning five non-tests and drawing one; and most notably defeating Australia in two tests as well. The Lions however experienced mixed results during the New Zealand leg of the tour, as well as losing all of the tests against the All Blacks. The Lions also played a test against Canada on their way home, winning 19 to 8 in Toronto. The 1968 tour of South Africa saw the Lions win 15 of their 16 provincial matches, but the team actually lost three tests against the Springboks and drew one.

1970–1979

The 1970s saw a renaissance for the Lions. The 1971 team, centred around the skilled Welsh half-back pairing of Gareth Edwards and Barry John, secured a series win over the All Blacks. The tour started with a loss to Queensland but proceeded to storm through the next provincial fixtures, winning 11 games in a row. The Lions then went on to defeat the All Blacks in Dunedin. The Lions would only lose a single match on the rest of the tour, and won the test series against New Zealand, winning and drawing the last two games, to take the series two wins to one.

One of the best-known and most successful Lions team toured South Africa in 1974 under the esteemed Irish forward Willie John McBride. It went through 22 games unbeaten, and triumphed 3–0 (with one drawn) in the test open series. The test series featured a lot of violence. The management of the Lions concluded that the Springboks dominated their opponents with physical aggression. At that time, test match referees came from the home nation, substitutions took place only if a doctor found a player unable to continue and there were no video cameras or sideline officials to prevent violent play. The Lions decided "to get their retaliation in first" with the infamous "99 call". The Lions postulated that a South African referee would probably not send off all of the Lions if they all retaliated against "blatant thuggery". Famous video footage of the 'battle of Boet Erasmus Stadium' shows JPR Williams running over half of the pitch and launching himself at Van Heerden after such a call.

The 1977 tour to New Zealand saw the Lions drop only one non-test out of 21 games, a loss to a Universities side. The team did not win the test series though, winning one game but losing the other three.

In August 1977 the British Lions made a stopover in Fiji on the way home from their tour of New Zealand. Fiji beat them 25–21 at Buckhurst Park, Suva.

1980–2005

The British and Irish Lions against New Zealand in 2005

The Lions toured South Africa in 1980, and completed a flawless non-test record, winning 14 out of 14 matches. The Lions however lost the first three tests to South Africa, winning the last one, with the series already won by the Springboks.

The 1983 tour to New Zealand saw the team successful in the non-test games, winning all but two games, but being whitewashed in the test series against the All Blacks.

A tour to South Africa by the Lions was anticipated in 1986. However, the invitation for the Lions to tour South Africa was never accepted because of controversy surrounding Apartheid, and the tour did not go ahead.^[15] The Lions did not return to South Africa until 1997, after the Apartheid era. A Lions team was selected in April 1986 for the International Rugby Board centenary match against a 'The Rest'. The team was organised by the Four Home Unions Committee and the players were given the status of official British Lions.^[16]

The Lions tour to Australia in 1989 was a short affair, being only 12 matches in total. The tour was very successful for the Lions, who won all eight non-test matches and won the test series against Australia, two to one.

The tour to New Zealand in 1993 was the last of the amateur era. The Lions won six and lost four non-test matches, and lost the test series 2–1.
The tour to South Africa in 1997 was a success for the Lions, who completed the tour with only two losses, and won the test series 2–1.

In 2001, the ten-game tour to Australia saw the Wallabies win the test series 2–1. This series saw the first award of the Tom Richards Trophy. In the Lions' 2005 tour to New Zealand, coached by Clive Woodward, the Lions won seven games against provincial teams, were defeated by the New Zealand Maori team, and suffered heavy defeats in all three tests.

2009

The Lions faced the World Cup winners South Africa, with Ian McGeechan leading a coaching team including Warren Gatland, Shaun Edwards and Rob Howley. The Lions were captained by Irish lock Paul O'Connell.^[17] The initial Lions selection consisted of fourteen Irish players, thirteen Welsh, eight English and two Scots in the 37-man squad.

In the first Test on 20 June, they lost 26–21, and lost the series in the second 28–25 in a tightly-fought game at Loftus Versfeld on 27 June.^[18] The Lions won the third Test 28–9 at Ellis Park, and the series finished 2–1 to South Africa.

2013

During June 2013 the British and Irish Lions toured Australia.

Former Scotland and Lions full-back Andy Irvine was appointed as tour manager in 2010.^[19]Wales head coach Warren Gatland was the Lions' head coach, and their tour captain was Sam Warburton.

The tour started in Hong Kong with a match against the Barbarians before moving on to Australia for the main tour featuring six provincial matches and three tests.^[20]

The Lions won all but one non-test matches, losing to the Brumbies 14–12 on 18 June. The first test was followed shortly after this, which saw the Lions go 1-up over Australia winning 23–21. Australia did have a chance to take the win in the final moments of the game, but a missed penalty by Kurtley Beale saw the Lions take the win. The Wallabies drew the series in the second test winning 16–15, though the Lions had a chance to steal the win had it not been because of a missed penalty by Leigh Halfpenny. With tour captain Warburton out of the final test due to injury, Alun Wyn Jones took over the captaincy in the final test in Sydney. The final test was won by the Lions in what was a record win, winning 41–16 to earn their first series win since 1997 and their first over Australia since 1989.

2017

Following his winning tour of Australia in 2013, Warren Gatland was reappointed as Lions Head Coach for the tour to New Zealand in June and July 2017. In April 2016, it was announced that the side would again be captained again by Sam Warburton. The touring schedule included 10 games: an opening game against the Provincial Barbarians, challenge matches against all five of New Zealand's Super Rugby sides, a match against the Māori All Blacks and three tests against New Zealand. The Lions defeated the Barbarians in the first game of the tour, before being beaten by the Blues three days later. The team recovered to beat the Crusaders but this was followed up with another midweek loss, this time against the Highlanders. The Lions then faced the Māori All Blacks, winning comfortably to restore optimism and followed up with their first midweek victory of the tour against the Chiefs.

On 24 June, the Lions, captained by Peter O'Mahony, faced New Zealand in Eden Park in the first Test and were beaten 30–15. This was followed by the final midweek game of the tour, a draw against the Hurricanes. For the second Test, Gatland recalled Warburton to his starting team, restoring his captaincy. In Wellington Regional Stadium, the Lions beat New Zealand 24–21 to tie the series going into the final game, ending the side's 47-game winning run at home. In the final test at Eden Park the following week, the teams played out a draw, ending the Test match series in a tie for the first time in the history of competition between the sides.

Overall

Overall test matches

Updated after the 2017 Tour

Against	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	For	Against	% Won
Argentina	7	6	0	1	236	31	86
Australia	23	17	6	0	414	248	74
New Zealand	41	7	30	4	399	700	17
South Africa	46	17	23	6	470	546	37
Total	117	47	59	11	1,519	1,525	40

Overall tour results

Against	Tours	Won	Lost	Drawn	% Won
Argentina	3	3	0	0	100%
Australia	9	7	2	0	78%
New Zealand	12	1	10	1	8%
South Africa	13	4	8	1	31%
Total	37	15	20	2	41%

Tours

Format

The Lions currently^[update] tour three Southern Hemisphere nations; Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. They also routinely toured in Argentina before the Second World War. Tours currently take place every four years. The most recent tour was to New Zealand in 2017, and before that the Lions toured visited Australia in June–July 2013.

In a break with tradition, a "home" fixture against Argentina took place at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on 23 May 2005, before the Lions went to New Zealand. It finished in a draw, 25–25.

On tour, games take place against local provinces, clubs or representative sides as well as the full tests against the host's national team.

The Lions, and their predecessor teams, have often played games against other nearby countries on tour. For example, they played Rhodesia (the future Zimbabwe) in 1910, 1924, 1938, 1955, 1962, 1968 & 1974 during their tours to South Africa. They also were beaten by Fiji on their 1977 tour to New Zealand. In addition, they toured pre-independence Namibia (then South West Africa), in 1955, 1962, 1968, and 1974.

There have also been games in other countries on the way home. These include games in Canada in 1959 and 1966, East Africa (then mostly Kenya, and held in Nairobi), and an unofficial game against Ceylon (future Sri Lanka) in 1950.

Previous tours have seen some non-Test players become demotivated, but more recently this issue has reduced because of high injury rates, increased use of replacements and greater selection flexibility.

In recent tours a common issue has been weak opposition in many non-Test games, partly as opposition countries have their top players in national training camps, partly as sides protect top players for domestic games which are seen as more commercially important than Lions games, and possibly partly to prevent the Lions having high standard preparatory games. However, quite a few New Zealand internationals lined out in non-Test matches in 2017.

Results

Tour Test matches

Year	To	Captain	Head coach	Top scorer in Tests	Result	Tests record
1888	New Zealand & Australia	Robert Seddon Andrew Stoddart	Alfred Shaw Arthur Shrewsbury	No Test matches played
1891	South Africa	Bill Maclagan	Edwin Ash	Arthur Rotherham, 4	Won	3–0
1896	South Africa	Johnny Hammond Thomas Crean	Roger Walker	J. F. Byrne, 12	Won	3–1
1899	Australia	Matthew Mullineux Frank Stout	Matthew Mullineux	Charlie Adamson, 17	Won	3–1
1903	South Africa	Mark Morrison	Johnny Hammond	John Gillespie, 4	Lost	0–1
1904	Australia & New Zealand	David Bedell-Sivright Teddy Morgan	Arthur O'Brien	Percy Bush, 20	Won Lost	3–0 (Australia) 0–1 (New Zealand)
1908	New Zealand & Australia	Arthur 'Boxer' Harding	George Harnett	Reggie Gibbs, 3 Jack Jones, 3	Lost	0–2–1 (NZ) No tests against Australia
1910	South Africa	Tommy Smyth Jack Jones	William Cail Walter E. Rees	Jack Spoors, 9	Lost	1–2
1910	Argentina	John Raphael	R.V. Stanley	Harold Monks, 10 (no test caps awarded)	Won	1–0
1924	South Africa	Ronald Cove-Smith	Harry Packer	Tom Voyce, 6	Lost	0–3–1
1927	Argentina	David MacMyn	James Baxter	Ernest Hammett, 40 (no test caps awarded)	Won	4–0
1930	New Zealand & Australia	Doug Prentice Carl Aarvold	James Baxter	Carl Aarvold, 9	Lost Lost	1–3 (New Zealand) 0–1 (Australia)
1936	Argentina	Bernard Gadney	Doug Prentice	John Brett, 7 (no test caps awarded)	Won	1–0
1938	South Africa	Sam Walker	Major B.C. Hartley	Vivian Jenkins, 9	Lost	1–2
1950	New Zealand & Australia	Karl Mullen Bleddyn Williams	Leslie B. Osborne	Lewis Jones, 26	Lost Won	0–3–1 (NZ) 2–0 (Australia)
1955	South Africa	Robin Thompson Cliff Morgan	Jack Siggins	Jeff Butterfield, 12	Tied	2–2
1959	Australia & New Zealand	Ronnie Dawson	O.B. Glasgow	David Hewitt, 16	Won Lost	2–0 (Australia) 1–3 (New Zealand)
1962	South Africa	Arthur Smith Dickie Jeeps	Harry McKibbin	John Willcox, 5	Lost	0–3–1
1966	Australia, & New Zealand	David Watkins Mike Campbell-Lamerton	John Robins	Stewart Wilson, 30	Won Lost	2–0 (Australia) 0–4 (New Zealand)
1968	South Africa	Tom Kiernan	Ronnie Dawson	Tom Kiernan, 35	Lost	0–3–1
1971	New Zealand	John Dawes	Carwyn James	Barry John, 30	Won	2–1–1
1974	South Africa	Willie John McBride	Syd Millar	Phil Bennett, 26	Won	3–0–1
1977	New Zealand	Phil Bennett	John Dawes	Phil Bennett, 18	Lost	1–3
1980	South Africa	Bill Beaumont	Noel Murphy	Tony Ward, 18	Lost	1–3
1983	New Zealand	Ciaran Fitzgerald	Jim Telfer	Ollie Campbell, 15	Lost	0–4
1989	Australia	Finlay Calder	Ian McGeechan	Gavin Hastings, 28	Won	2–1
1993	New Zealand	Gavin Hastings	Ian McGeechan	Gavin Hastings, 38	Lost	1–2
1997	South Africa	Martin Johnson	Ian McGeechan Jim Telfer	Neil Jenkins, 41	Won	2–1
2001	Australia	Martin Johnson	Graham Henry	Jonny Wilkinson, 36	Lost	1–2
2005	New Zealand	Brian O'Driscoll Martin Corry Gareth Thomas	Sir Clive Woodward	Stephen Jones, 14	Lost	0–3
2009	South Africa	Paul O'Connell	Ian McGeechan	Stephen Jones, 39	Lost	1–2
2013	Australia	Sam Warburton Alun Wyn Jones	Warren Gatland	Leigh Halfpenny, 49	Won	2–1
2017	New Zealand	Sam Warburton Peter O'Mahony	Warren Gatland	Owen Farrell, 31	Tied	1–1–1
2021	South Africa

Other International matches

Year	Rival	Captain	Head coach	Top Scorer	Result	Related tour
1910	Southern Rhodesia	Jack Jones	William Cail Walter E. Rees	Reg Plummer, 6	Won	South Africa 1910
1924	Rhodesia	Neil MacPherson	Harry Packer	Ian Smith, 6	Won	South Africa 1924
1930	Ceylon	James Leo Farrell	James Baxter		Won	New Zealand & Australia 1930
1938	Rhodesia	Sam Walker	Bernard Charles Hartley	Viv Jenkins, 7	Won	South Africa 1938
1938	Rhodesia	Sam Walker	Bernard Charles Hartley	Elvet Jones, 9	Won	South Africa 1938
1950	Ceylon		Leslie B. Osborne		Won	New Zealand & Australia 1950
1955	South-West Africa	Angus Cameron	Jack Siggins	Tony O'Reilly, 3 Frank Sykes, 3 Haydn Morris, 3	Won	South Africa 1955
1955	Rhodesia	Cliff Morgan	Jack Siggins	Frank Sykes, 9	Won	South Africa 1955
1955	Rhodesia	Cliff Morgan	Jack Siggins	Doug Baker, 6	Won	South Africa 1955
1955	East Africa [note 1]	Robin Thompson	Jack Siggins	Arthur Smith, 15	Won	South Africa 1955
1962	Rhodesia	Arthur Smith	Harry McKibbin	Mike Weston, 12	Won	South Africa 1962
1962	South-West Africa	Dickie Jeeps	Harry McKibbin	Mike Weston, 3 Keith Rowlands, 3 Raymond Hunter, 3	Won	South Africa 1962
1962	East Africa	Mike Campbell-Lamerton	Harry McKibbin	Richard Sharp, 14	Won	South Africa 1962
1966	Canada	Mike Campbell-Lamerton	John Robins	Noel Murphy, 6	Won	Australia & New Zealand 1966
1968	Rhodesia	Tom Kiernan	Ronnie Dawson	Keith Jarrett, 10	Won	South Africa 1968
1968	South-West Africa	Jim Telfer	Ronnie Dawson	Bob Hiller, 11	Won	South Africa 1968
1974	South-West Africa	Gareth Edwards	Syd Millar	Andy Irvine, 8	Won	South Africa 1974
1974	Rhodesia	Gareth Edwards	Syd Millar	Andy Irvine, 22	Won	South Africa 1974
1977	Fiji	Phil Bennett	John Dawes	Phil Bennett, 13	Lost	New Zealand 1977
1977	Barbarian F.C.	Phil Bennett	John Dawes	Phil Bennett, 8	Won	Home match as part of Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee celebrations after returning from New Zealand
1986	The Rest	Colin Deans	Mick Doyle	John Beattie, 4	Lost	Home match as part of IRB centenary celebrations
1989	France	Rob Andrew	Ian McGeechan	Gavin Hastings, 22	Won	One-off match as part of French bi-centennial celebrations
1990	Rest of Europe	David Sole	Roger Uttley	Gavin Hastings, 19	Won	Charity match in aid of Romania. Not billed as Lions, but as Four Home Unions
2005	Argentina	Michael Owen	Clive Woodward	Jonny Wilkinson, 20	Draw	2005 New Zealand tour warm-up – Home match
2013	Barbarians F.C.	Paul O'Connell	Warren Gatland	Owen Farrell, 15	Won	2013 Australia tour warm-up – Away match

Notes

Lions non-tour and home matches

The Lions have played a number of "home matches" against international opposition. With the exception of the 2005 home match against Argentina (which was played as a warm-up to the 2005 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand), these matches have been one-offs to mark special occasions:

1. The Lions played an unofficial international match in 1955 at Cardiff Arms Park against a Welsh XV to mark the 75th anniversary of the Welsh Rugby Union. The Lions won 20–17 but did not include all the big names of the 1955 tour, such as Tony O'Reilly, Jeff Butterfield, Phil Davies, Dickie Jeeps, Bryn Meredith and Jim Greenwood, for example.^[21][22]
   


2. In 1977, the Lions played their first official home game, against the Barbarians as a charity fund-raiser held as part of the Queen's silver jubilee celebrations. The Baa-Baas line-up featured JPR Williams, Gerald Davies, Gareth Edwards, Jean-Pierre Rives and Jean-Claude Skrela. The Lions included 13 of the team which played in the fourth test vs New Zealand three weeks before, and won 23–14.^[23]
   


3. In 1986, a match was organised against The Rest as both a warm-up to the 1986 South Africa tour, which was subsequently cancelled, and as a celebration match to mark the International Rugby Board's centenary. The Lions lost 15–7, but never toured that year.


4. In 1989, Rob Andrew captained the Lions in their victory against France in Paris. The game formed part of the celebrations of the bi-centennial of the French Revolution. The Lions won 29–27.


5. In 1990, a team titled the "Four Home Unions" was put together to play the "Rest of Europe XV". This was a match to raise money for the rebuilding of Romania following the overthrow of Nicolae Ceaușescu in December 1989. The team's logo was that used by the Lions, i.e. the crests of the four home unions united in a shield. The Rest of Europe played under the symbol of the Federația Română de Rugby.

Player records

Players in bold are still active at club level.

Most caps

Updated 03 July 2017 ^[2]

#	Name	Tours	Caps	Position
1	Willie John McBride	1962–1974	17	Lock
2	Dickie Jeeps	1955–1962	13	Scrum-half
3	Mike Gibson	1966–1971	12	Centre
	Graham Price	1977–1983	12	Prop
5	Tony O'Reilly	1955–1959	10	Wing
	Rhys Williams	1955–1959	10	Lock
	Gareth Edwards	1968–1974	10	Scrum-half
8	Syd Millar	1955–1959	9	Prop
	Andy Irvine	1974–1980	9	Full-back
	Alun Wyn Jones	2009–2017	9	Lock

Top point scorers

Updated 03 July 2017 ^[2]

#	Name	Career	Points	Caps	Position
1	Jonny Wilkinson	2001–2005	67	6	Fly-half
2	Gavin Hastings	1989–1993	66	6	Full-back
3	Stephen Jones	2005–2009	53	6	Fly-half
4	Leigh Halfpenny	2013–2017	49	4	Full-back
5	Phil Bennett	1974–1977	44	8	Fly-half
6	Neil Jenkins	1997–2001	41	4	Fly-half
7	Tom Kiernan	1962–1968	35	5	Full-back
8	Owen Farrell	2013–2017	31	4	Fly-half
9	Stewart Wilson	1966-1966	30	5	Full-back
	Barry John	1968–1971	30	5	Fly-half

Top try scorers

Updated 03 July 2017 ^[2]

#	Name	Career	Tries	Caps	Position
1	Tony O'Reilly	1955–1959	6	10	Wing
2	J. J. Williams	1974–1977	5	7	Wing
3	Willie Llewellyn	1904-1904	4	4	Wing
	Malcolm Price	1959-1959	4	5	Centre
5	Alf Bucher	1899-1899	3	3	Wing
	Jack Spoors	1910-1910	3	3	Full-back
	Carl Aarvold	1930-1930	3	5	Centre
	Jeff Butterfield	1955-1955	3	4	Centre
	Ken Jones	1962–1966	3	6	Centre
	Gerald Davies	1968–1971	3	5	Wing

See also

• List of British and Irish Lions test matches


• Rugby union and apartheid

Sources

• 
  Godwin, Terry; Rhys, Chris (1981). The Guinness Book of Rugby Facts & Feats. London: Guinness Superlatives. ISBN 0-85112-214-0..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
  


• 
  Griffiths, John (1987). The Phoenix Book of International Rugby Records. London: Phoenix House. ISBN 0-460-07003-7.
  

Notes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to British and Irish Lions.

• British and Irish Lions website


• British and Irish Lions Supporters Site


• Results from rugbydata.com


• Physiotherapy and Sports Medicine