Lions History

2005 - New Zealand

With Sir Clive Woodward hot off the trails of a much lauded World Cup win in 2003, the board of the Lions were quick to appoint him as head coach of the 2005 Lions and to try and recreate that success. Brian O'Driscoll was recruited as captain of the tour and along with a back-room staff numbering 44 ...

2001 - Australia

The tour to Australia in 2001 was coached for the first time by someone outside of the British Isles with Kiwi Graham Henry being appointed to lead the team down under. Martin Johnson was back for his second stint as captain and became the first person to captain the Lions twice. With the fabled ...

1997 - South Africa

1997 was the first professional Lions tour undertaken and the current World Cup holders South Africa were expected to thrash the Lions. Fortunately, captain Martin Johnson and coach Ian McGeechan had other ideas... The 1st test was a tight affair with Neil Jenkins boot keeping the Lions in the game ...

1993 - New Zealand

The last tour of the amateur age saw Gavin Hastings captain the side with Ian McGeechan as coach for the second time with Geoff Cooke as tour manager. England supplied the bulk of the players for the tour with 17 of the 30 players on tour being picked and seven of their forwards being selected to play ...

1989 - Australia

This was the first time the Lions had toured Australia since 1971 and the first time they had toured Australia exclusively for 90 years. Expectation for the tour was high and with Finlay Calder captaining the side, the Lions were expected to come away with the honours. The first test proved ...

1983 - New Zealand

The New Zealand tour of 1983 was another tour to forget as the Lions went down to a 4-0 whitewash for only the second time in history. The tour captained by Ciaran Fitzgerald, coached by Jim Telfer and managed by Willie John McBride suffered a bit of a battering at the hands of the Kiwis after the ...

1980 - South Africa

Lions skipper, Bill Beaumont came into the tour following a recapture of the Five Nations crown for the first time in 16 years and proceeded to lead the Lions on their whistlestop tour of South Africa in 1980. An injury ravaged side were easily defeated in the first test despite some first class goal ...

1977 - New Zealand

Following their magnificent series victory in 1971 proved to be a bit of a tough act to follow. The 1977 tour to New Zealand captained by the Lions hero Phil Bennett, coached by the victorious 1971 captain John Dawes and managed by George Burrell had the ammunition to repeat their history making feat, ...

1974 - South Africa

Three years after triumphing in New Zealand the Lions faced a much stiffer test in facing a South African side who had not lost a test series that century. The tour was a magnificent success with the tourists setting achievement after achievement by winning the series 3-0 and not losing a single game ...

1971 - Australia & New Zealand

The last tour of Australia and New Zealand collectively, saw captain John Dawes lead the Lions on one of the most successful and memorable British Lions tours ever. The first test saw the Lions pick up a 9-3 victory in Dunedin almost completely against the run of play, and the total white wash by the ...

1968 - South Africa

Having suffered many series defeats against the Springboks over the years, the Lions were fully expectant of what was in store for them in this tour. Although the tourists suffered a 3-0 loss once again to the Boks, they left with pride a little bit restored after the hammerings they had taken in ...

1966 - Australia & New Zealand

The 1966 Lions were talked up before the tour as being one of the best Lions sides ever, but in reality this Lions tour was probably the worst performance by any Lions team over the years. Even though they secured victory in Australia, they were comprehensively beaten by the All Blacks in all four ...

1962 - South Africa

The South African tour of 1962 saw a return to the forward dominated style of rugby that had been so successful for the Boks for the past few years. Captain Arthur Smith lead the Lions into battle winning 16 and drawing 4 of their matches on tour but the significant results were in the test match ...

1959 - Australia & New Zealand

The 1959 Lions squad was not only captained by Irishman Ronnie Dawson, but for the first time the Irish had a greater representation than Wales, England and Scotland. Starting off with two fine test victories over Australia, the Lions travelled over to New Zealand brimming with confidence, although ...

1955 - South Africa

The Lions touring team of 1955 set unprecedented standards in dismantling the aura of the seemingly invincible Springboks and endearing themselves to the hosts at the same time. The tour was lead by Irish Lock Robin Thompson and the policy of the tour appeared to be to run the ball at every opportunity ...

1950 - Australia & New Zealand

The first post-war Lions tour saw the parties morale at extremly high levels, due to the extended break afforded to the players before the start of ther tour. The tour also marked the first occasions that the Lions played in their now famous red shirts (to avoid a clash with New Zealand as had occured ...

1938 - South Africa

As the last Lions side to tour before the impending war, the tour in 1938 looked shorn of a number of its star players before the tour even kicked off. The party lead from the front by Sam Walker were staring down the barrel of defeat by a very much fancied Springbok side and it was proved to be the ...

1930 - Australia & New Zealand

The biggest issues of the 1930 tour seemed to be the availability and injury of its key players. 100 players were invited to tour but the Lions could only manage to get 29 players on board for the tour. This tour was captained by F. D. Prentice when Wavell Wakefield was unable to tour however, the ...

1924 - South Africa

The South African tour of 1924 saw the tourists set out as the British Isles rugby team but return as the now famous British Lions. Bravely captained by Englands Ronald Cove-Smith, the Lions suffered on the hard grounds in South Africa and injuries forced many players out of the action with others ...

1910 - South Africa

The 1910 tour to South Arica was the first tour to take a serious approach to its organisation. For the first time, all four unions were represented and the missionary work that was part of the previous tours was no longer required and so it was deemed a straight battle for victory. Lead by Tom Smyth ...

1908 - Australia & New Zealand

In 1908 New Zealand rugby was beginning to come to the fore and this showed in the itinerary of the tour placing a greater emphasis on the number of matches played in each country. The tour was was captained by Boxer Harding and featured only players from England and Wales resulting in heavy losses in ...

1904 - Australia & New Zealand

The 1904 series saw the introduction of the test series of matches for the first time. The tour was captained by scottish hard man Darkie Bedell-Sivright. The British Isles tore through the opening matches of the series with convincing wins over Australia in all three tests, but New Zealand provided a ...

1903 - South Africa

By 1903, the British tourists really knew they were going to have a battle on their hands when they opened up the tour with three bruising losses in the first three games. The side captained by Mark Morrison suffered badly at the hands of the provincial sides losing many of their matches in the run up ...

1899 - Australia

The 1899 tour to Australia was the first time all four home unions played together as the British Isles touring team. The tour was organised and captained by the Englishman Reverand Matthew Mullineux, who has the dubious honour of being the only Lions skipper never to have captained his ...

1896 - South Africa

The third British Isles rugby tour returned to South Africa in 1896 to find a stronger and more competitive rugby scene growing. Captain for the tour was 1891 veteran Johnny Hammond and for the first time the tour included six Irish internationals in the party. The British team won the first three ...

1891 - South Africa

The 1891 tour to South Africa was the first tour officially undertaken by the RFU and was funded primarily by the Western Province union and Cape Colony Prime Minister Cecil Rhodes. Because of the backing of the RFU the tour was billed as the English Rugby Football Team, however it did contain scots ...

1888 - Australia & New Zealand

The first recognised British and Irish Lions tour ever was over to Australia and New Zealand and the side was captained by Bob Seddon. Tragedy struck the tour when half way through, captain Bob Seddon was killed in a sculling accident on 13th August. The captaincy was taken over by the then England ...