Everything you need to know about British & Irish Lions rugby

In the 137 years since the marauding tourists first ventured south to our shores there has been as much drama off the field as on it.

Waratahs fullback Duncan McRae is sent off for punching Ronan O''Gara of the British and Irish Lions during a warm-up match.

A is for ALFRED Shaw, one of three entrepreneurs who came up with the concept of the British and Irish Lions and organised the first tour in 1888. Englishman Shaw was also the man who bowled the very first ball in Test cricket. It was a dot ball to Australian Charles Bannerman, who went on to score 165, in Melbourne in 1877.

Alfred Shaw in 1895.

B is for BLAIR Swannell, a Lions tourist in 1899 and 1904 who enjoyed Australia so much, he moved here and played one Test for the Wallabies – against New Zealand. Swannell was killed by a Turkish sniper at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915.

Blair Swannell pictured outside Cairo in late 1914 alongside other soldiers. Picture: Australian War Memorial

C is for CANADA. After being whitewashed 4-0 by the All Blacks in 1966, the Lions played a one-off Test against Canada on the way home. After an 8-3 loss to British Columbia in Vancouver, they beat the national side 19-8 in Toronto three days later.

The All Blacks and Lions drew 1-1 in 2017.

D is for DRAWS. The Lions draw far more than their share of games. Starting in South Africa in 1903, where they drew two of the three Tests, the tourists have finished level against the All Blacks or Springboks 10 times, although they have never drawn against the Wallabies. That’s about once every 11 Tests against the Big Three. As a comparison, the Wallabies average a draw every 32 Tests.

Harry Eagles in his Lancashire county uniform before a match at Jubilee Football Festival at Kennington Oval on March 12, 1887.

E is for Harry EAGLES. The England forward was a key member of the original British Isles squad to New Zealand and Australia in 1888, and reportedly – and incredibly, if true – played all 54 games on that tour, including the Aussie Rules games. In 35 rugby games, he scored 15 tries. Before the tour, he was named in the England team, but because of a dispute with the other home countries, no Tests were played. Eagles was, however, awarded a cap – one of only two players to earn an England cap without actually playing for his country.

F is for the FIVE yellow cards in the Lions-NSW match in 2001. And one infamous red to the Waratahs’ Duncan McRae for pounding Ronan O’Gara into the Sydney turf. NSW lock Tom Bowman earned the first yellow after only three seconds for a forearm on opposite number Danny Grewcock – a karate black belt, no less, who was himself yellow-carded in the second half, along with teammate Phil Vickery and Waratahs Cameron Blades and Brendan Cannon.

Lions midfielder Will Greenwood shapes to pass against the NSW Waratahs in 2001 at the Sydney Football Stadium Picture: Scott Barbour/ALLSPORT

G is for Will GREENWOOD, the last player to play for the Lions before winning a cap. The England centre toured South Africa in 1997, and was also selected for the 2001 tour to Australia and the 2005 tour to New Zealand.

Daniel Herbert scores a try in the decisive third and final Test in 2001 against the British & Irish Lions in Sydney.

H is for Daniel HERBERT, whose brace of tries in the third Test in Sydney in 2001 secured the Wallabies’ first series win over the Lions. Brisbane-born Herbert played 67 Tests, scoring 11 tries, won a World Cup and is now chairman of Rugby Australia.

Lions winger Ieuan Evans charges into David Campese as the Lions win the decider in Sydney in 2001.

I is for IEUAN Evans, the Wales winger who scored the series-deciding try in Sydney in 1989 – a YouTube video that is probably not bookmarked on David Campese’s laptop. Evans played 72 Tests for Wales, captaining the side 28 times and scoring 33 tries. He is the 2025 Lions tour manager.

Lions scrumhalf Rob Jones and his Wallaby counterpart Nick Farr-Jones. Picture: Getty

J is for Robert JONES, or even Nick Farr-JONES. The two No. 9s went at it early doors in the second Test at Ballymore in 1989 after the Welshman stood on his opponent’s foot at a scrum. Jones didn’t win the battle – he couldn’t fight for toffee – but it set the scene for one of the most violent Lions Tests ever, and his side won the war. After being bullied in the first Test, the tourists hit back in Brisbane and went on to win the series in Sydney.

K is for SS KAIKOURA, the ship that carried the first British squad to Australia and New Zealand in 1888. It left Gravesend on March 9 and returned on November 11. The ship took 46 days to reach Dunedin, with the bored players passing the time by using catapults to fire at passing albatrosses. As you do. The squad played 35 rugby matches – losing only two – and 19 Aussie Rules games.

L is for Dan LUGER, who scored a hat-trick of tries in the Lions’ 116-10 demolition of Western Australia in 2001. Things went a bit downhill for the England winger after that, when he broke a jaw in training. Luger made headlines in the 2003 World Cup when he came on as a replacement against Samoa and made a tackle – before the player he was supposed to replace had left the field. It cost England a £10,000 fine and Luger did not receive a cap for his appearance.

Aussie Mack Hansen celebrates Ireland’s 13-8 pool victory against South Africa at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.

M is for MACK Hansen. The Australian Irishman has a tattoo of Andy Farrell’s face on his leg. How could he not get selected? Everyone is tipping his Kiwi mate James Lowe for a Test spot, but Hansen has a bit of X-factor that could make things interesting.

Scottish halfback Andy Nicol during the 2001 second Test at Colonial Stadium in Melbourne. Picture: Dave Rogers

N is for Andy NICOL. Having being called up to the tour of New Zealand in 1993, the Scottish halfback played a grand total of six minutes in the Lions jersey. In 2001, when he was in Australia on the lash – er, as part of a supporters’ group – he was called up to the bench for the third Test, but did not get sent on.

Injured British & Irish Lions captain Brian O'Driscoll was not a happy camper on the 2005 tour of NZ.

O is for Brian O’DRISCOLL. A veteran of four Lions tours, the Irish superstar wasn’t out of the headlines on any of them. In Australia in 2001, the 22-year-old announced himself on the world stage with a superb individual try in the first Test. In New Zealand in 2005, he was spear-tackled in the opening minutes of the first Test and took no further part in the tour. He captained the midweek team in South Africa in 2009 and was controversially dropped from the squad by coach Warren Gatland for the third Test decider. Irish fans went nuts, but the 41-16 win shut them up. Well, some of them.

20-year-old Henry Pollock of Northampton Saints poses for a portrait in his British & Irish Lions shirt.

P is for Henry POLLOCK. This kid is the real deal. The most exciting backrower in world rugby since a teenage Richie McCaw was making waves. Pollock has the pace and power of a South African, the confidence of a Frenchman and the rugby brain of a New Zealander. Sadly, he was born in England.

Q is for QUEENSLAND, who beat the 1971 Lions 15-11 before they crossed the ditch and pounded all of New Zealand. Apart from the third Test against the All Blacks, the Queensland match was the tourists’ only loss. The Lions were given a toy lion by a wellwisher and told to give it to the first provincial side that beat them. The mascot didn’t even make it to New Zealand. After the game, Queensland coach Des Connor proclaimed: “These Lions are hopeless; they are undoubtedly the worst team ever to be sent to New Zealand.” That didn’t age well.

R is for RED. The Lions first wore their famous red jerseys on the 1950 tour of Australia and New Zealand, moving away from the navy blue that had previously clashed with the New Zealanders’ black outfits.

Rugby union footballer Robert Seddon posing in his Lancashire county uniform before a match.

S is for Robert SEDDON, the first British Lions captain. The England forward was in charge on the 1888 tour of New Zealand and Australia, but tragedy struck when he drowned while rowing alone on the Hunter River near Maitland. Teammates Jack Anderton and Andrew Stoddart found his body. He was 28.

Tom Richards during the tour of the US in 1912. Picture: Greg Growden

T is for TOM Richards, the only Australian-born player to represent the Wallabies and the British Lions. The winner of this series will take home the Tom Richards Trophy. Richards played three Tests on Australia’s tour of Great Britain in 1908, and also picked up a gold medal at the London Olympics. Living in South Africa two years later, the backrower played two Tests for the touring Lions, and then reappeared for the Wallabies against the United States in 1912. He served in the First World War, was a stretcher bearer at Gallipoli and won the Military Cross in France in 1917.

Ugandan President Idi Amin in military uniform in 1972.

U is for UGANDA dictator Idi Amin who, like many people, didn’t play against the British and Irish Lions. A popular piece of trivia suggests he was on the replacements’ bench for East Africa against the tourists in 1955. But international substitutes weren’t allowed for another 13 years and he’s not in the team photo.

Duhan van der Merwe scores the Lions’ second try in a 54-7 beating of the Sharks on the 2021 tour of South Africa.

V is for Duhan VAN der Merwe, the not-very-Scottish Scotland winger who played in all three Tests on the Lions’ tour of South Africa in 2021. He has rattled up 31 tries in only 48 Tests for his, er, country, and is the only Scotland player to be the outright top tryscorer in a Six Nations tournament.

W is for WALES. Poor Wales. On the back of a run of 400-something straight Test losses, they were fortunate to get a grand total of two tourists. But keep an eye on Jac Morgan. Arguably (I have to say that), the most technically correct tackler in world rugby. He does not miss. Fraser who?

Alan McLellan, prop for the Canterbury Rugby team, is tackled to the ground by Lions flanker Fergus Slattery.

X is for X-RATED rugby. Three decades before the 2001 NSW match, there was the 1971 match between the Lions and Canterbury – the last game before the first Test. And the last game three Lions played on that tour. Flanker Fergus Slattery, who lost two teeth in the Lancaster Park mud, said later: “Alister Hopkinson was propping against Sandy Carmichael and he just kept punching him in the face. Canterbury went out to kick the s*** out of us. Gareth Edwards was running across the pitch and Alex Wyllie came up behind him and punched him in the back of the neck.” Lions great Willie John McBride adds: “I don’t think there was a ball on the field for the first half an hour. It was bloody nonsense.”

The first Lions rugby team, which toured New Zealand and Australia in 1888. Picture: World Rugby Museum

Y is for the 137 YEARS since the Lions played their first match on Australian soil – an 18-6 win over New South Wales on June 2, 1888. They have since played 23 Tests against the Wallabies, winning 17 and losing six – a win ratio of 74 per cent.

Simon Zebo comes down from the stands to celebrate with his touring teammate Jonathan Davies after the Lions beat the Wallabies 41-16 in the series-deciding third Test at ANZ Stadium in Sydney in 2013.

Z is for Simon ZEBO. Called into the 2013 squad as injury cover, the talented winger quickly earned a reputation as the joker in the team. After telling Irish teammate Conor Murray to kick the ball into touch during a midweek game so the ref could blow for halftime – knowing full well there was a minute left on the clock – Zebo was punished by a players’ court. His sentence? He had to ring then Munster coach Rob Penney and demand the captaincy of the club – in front of the entire touring squad. You can watch him squirm on YouTube.