The 99 things you need to know about the British & Irish Lions
As the Waratahs prepare to defend NSW’s honour on Saturday night, we delve into the mystique of rugby’s greatest touring side.
It’s been 137 years since a combination team representing the British Isles first boarded a boat and set sail south for their inaugural tour – setting up the northern hemisphere v southern hemisphere rivalry. As the Waratahs prepare to defend NSW’s honour on Saturday night, London-based Angus Morrison and The Australian’s Sports Editor Garry Ferris delve into the mystique of rugby’s greatest touring side.
1
There is only one country the British & Irish Lions have played but never beaten – Fiji. In their only match, the Lions lost 25-21 in Suva in 1977.
2
Two Lions players have won Victoria Crosses. Friends Robert Johnston and Tom Crean, who toured South Africa in 1896, won VCs – in separate battles – during the Second Boer War.
3
Andy Farrell’s squad for the 2025 tour contains three players who were born in NZ – Jamison Gibson-Park, Bundee Aki and James Lowe – but only two born in Wales (Jac Morgan and the injured Tomos Williams).
4
Lions centre Jack Matthews and future undefeated world heavyweight boxing champion Rocky Marciano went toe to toe for four rounds in 1943. The fight at an RAF base in Wales was ruled a draw.
5
England winger Rory Underwood scored the Lions’ first five-point Test try in the second Test against NZ in 1993. The Lions won the match 20-7, but lost the series 2-1.
6
Lions and Ireland legend Tony O’Reilly scored six Test tries for the tourists – more than any player in history. In all, the man described as “probably Ireland’s first billionaire” scored 38 tries in 38 games for the Lions in the 1950s. O’Reilly made his last appearance for Ireland in 1970, his late call-up denying Frank O’Driscoll – father of Brian – what would have been his only cap.
7
England lock Bill Beaumont played seven Tests for the Lions through the 1977 and 1980 tours. Asked by reporters in 1977 if he was concerned by pundits saying the All Blacks were invincible, he reportedly replied: “Of course I am – how can we play them if we can’t see them?”
8
The Lions scored eight points (two one-point tries and two three-point dropped goals) in their very first game to beat Otago 8-3 at the Caledonian Ground in Dunedin on April 28, 1888.
9
The British & Irish Lions have failed to score in a Test nine times, the most recent in the 9-0 loss at a windswept Athletic Park in Wellington in 1983.
10
With respect to Dan Carter (see No.33), this can be about only one player – Lions and Wales No.10 Barry John, the George Best of rugby. It takes a hell of a British player to earn the lifelong respect of NZ fans, but King Barry did just that. Helped by Gareth Edwards’s bullet passes, he ran the 1971 Test series like a puppeteer. Retired at the age of 27.
11
Lions first five-eighth Ronan O’Gara was punched 11 times in the head by NSW fullback Duncan McRae during the 2001 tour. McRae was sent off and later banned for seven weeks.
12
Mike Gibson is arguably the premier No.12 in British Lions history – on either side. The Irish star is a veteran of five Lions tours between 1966 and 1977, beginning and ending his career in New Zealand. Gibson scored 22 tries in 68 appearances, including 12 Tests, and cemented his name among the greats on the victorious 1971 and 1974 tours.
13
The fourth Test in South Africa in 1974 finished 13-13, dashing the tourists’ hopes of completing a perfect tour. Flanker Fergus Slattery looked to have scored the winning try in the last minute, but South African referee Max Baise disallowed it. When confronted by angry Lions players after the whistle, he told them: “Look, boys, I have to live here.”
14
Israel Folau wore the No.14 jersey in the first Test against the Lions in 2013 – his international rugby union debut. He scored two tries and was named man of the match, but the tourists won 23-21.
15
Neil Jenkins wore the unfamiliar No.15 jersey on the 1997 tour of South Africa, but the prolific Welshman wasn’t fazed, scoring a series-winning 41 points.
16
The Wallabies scored 16 points (Ashley-Cooper try; Christian Lealiifano 3pen, con) in Melbourne in their only Test win of the 2013 tour. They also scored 16 points in the deciding Test, but the tourists scored 41.
17
There had been 17 Lions with the surname Jones before this tour kicked off … and 31-year-old Scottish centre Huw Jones now makes it 18 – 19 if you count 1930 tourist Tommy Jones-Davies, who scored a hat-trick of tries against West Coast/Buller; 20 if you count 1924 tourist Douglas Marsden-Jones.
18
The Lions scored 18 tries in their biggest win – a 116-10 mauling of Western Australia in 2001. Winger Dan Luger and No.8 Scott Quinnell grabbed hat-tricks, with 2017 Lions coach Rob Howley scoring two.
19
Welsh star Lewis Jones was 19 when he became the first Lions player to arrive on tour by plane, having been called up as a replacement during the 1950 tour of New Zealand. He is the only tourist to score a “full house” – try, conversion, penalty goal and dropped goal – in a Test. Jones switched codes in 1952 and was described by one historian as “the most devastating attacking back Wales has ever produced”. Which is saying something.
20
Wales winger Louis Rees-Zammit was 20 when he was selected for the 2021 Lions tour of South Africa. After 14 tries in 32 Tests for Wales, the speedster quit rugby to try his hand at American football and now plays for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
21
The inaugural Lions touring squad in 1888 consisted of 21 players, one of whom – Jack Clowes – was banned from playing during the voyage to NZ after he admitted receiving a £15 clothing allowance. He was deemed to have broken amateur rules. All of the players received allowances – they just didn’t own up to it. Yorkshireman Clowes sat out the entire tour.
22
England forward Frank Stout was 22 when he led the tourists against Australia in 1899, making him the youngest captain in Lions history. He went on to win the Military Cross in World War I.
23
Jeremy Guscott played 23 games for the Lions and will forever be remembered for his series-winning dropped goal against South Africa in 1997. The brilliant England centre formed a potent midfield partnership with Welshman Scott Gibbs, a man Guscott dubbed “the world’s fastest prop”.
24
Ireland’s Jackie Kyle was 24 when he produced a starring role during the 1950 tour of NZ and Australia. Kyle played 20 games and vies with Welsh duo Barry John and Phil Bennett for the title of greatest Lions No.10.
25
Fiji scored 25 points in their four-point win over the Lions in 1977. Captained by the country’s future High Commissioner to London, Pio Bosco Tikoisuva, Fiji scored five tries in arguably their most famous victory.
26
Welshman JJ Williams, a former Commonwealth Games sprinter, was 26 when he scored braces of tries in the second and third Tests during the “Invincibles” tour of South Africa in 1974.
27
Springbok flanker Schalk Burger was sin-binned for raking his fingers across the face of Lions winger Luke Fitzgerald after only 27 seconds of the second Test in 2009. He was later banned for eight weeks.
28
Lions skipper Bob Seddon was 28 when he drowned while rowing in the Hunter River near Maitland in NSW during the 1888 tour of NZ and Australia.
29
England winger Jack Anderton played 29 games on the Lions’ inaugural tour of NZ and Australia in 1888. He scored 14 tries, including one in the historic opening match against Otago.
30
England winger John Bentley was 30 when he scored one of the best Lions tries. Catching a Neil Jenkins pass nearly 70m from the tryline against the Golden Lions on the 1997 tour of South Africa, the former league star powered through seven defenders to crash over under the crossbar.
31
Wales hooker Bobby Windsor was 31 when he scored his only try in the Lions jersey – against the NZ Juniors in 1977. He is perhaps better known for being the main suspect when fellow Lion Tommy David’s bed was thrown out of his hotel window during the 1974 tour of South Africa.
32
Ron Rogers, uncapped by England but capped by the Lions against NZ in 1904, was 32 when he was killed at Gallipoli in June 1915.
33
Dan Carter scored 33 points in the second Test against the Lions in Wellington in 2005. Carter produced arguably the best No.10 performance in history to win the series and send Lions coach Sir Clive Woodward back to the drawing board – which he presumably hit himself over the head with.
34
Winger Stu Wilson, who scored a hat-trick without a hand being laid on him in the 38-6 Fourth Test demolition of the injury-ravaged 1983 Lions, finished his All Blacks career with 34 caps.
35
Lions forward Denys Dobson was 35 when he was killed in 1916 by a charging rhinoceros in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Dobson gained notoriety for being the first Lions player to be sent off – for swearing at the referee during a game against the Northern Districts in NSW in 1904. On hearing of his death, a former teacher remarked, somewhat brutally, that Dobson had “always had a weak hand-off”.
36
Flanker Neil Back was 36 years and 160 days when he played in the second Test against NZ in 2005, making him the oldest British Lion.
37
Noel Murphy, who made 37 appearances for the Lions, impressed Antipodean fans as a young openside flanker on the 1959 tour and returned seven years later on the other side of the scrum. The Irishman went on to coach the 1980 Lions squad in South Africa. The Murphys are the only family to have a grandfather (Noel Snr), father (Noel) and son (Kenny) capped at international level.
38
Waikato triumphed 38-10 win over the tourists in 1993, with a 29-year-old hooker named Warren Gatland among tryscorers, with former All Black coaches Ian Foster and John Mitchell in the line-up.
39
Blair Swannell, who played for the Lions on the 1899 and 1904 tours and then for Australia against the All Blacks in 1905, was 39 when he was killed on the first day of the Gallipoli campaign in April 1915.
40
Irish lock Blair “Paddy” Mayne was 40 when he died in 1955. He played 20 games on the 1938 tour of South Africa, where his hotel-wrecking antics made headlines. He once burst into a teammate’s bedroom at 3am and told him: “I’ve just shot a Springbok!” And then dumped a dead antelope on the player’s bed. Mayne was a founding member of the SAS during World War II and one of the British Army’s most highly decorated soldiers.
41
Star Lions centre Brian O’Driscoll’s 2005 Test series lasted just 41 seconds before a controversial clearout by All Blacks Tana Umaga and Keven Mealamu dislocated his shoulder.
42
Scottish lock Gordon Brown made 42 appearances in the Lions jersey. During the Battle of the Boet Erasmus Stadium, during the 1974 tour of South Africa, he punched opposite number Johan de Bruyn so hard, the Springbok’s glass eye flew out. De Bruyn presented the eye in a trophy to Brown’s widow after the player’s death in 2001.
43
Wales winger Ieuan Evans scored 43 points for the Lions, but the most famous of them came in the deciding third Test against Australia in 1989. David Campese collected a stray dropped-goal attempt in his in-goal area and started off on an improbable 100m run towards the Lions’ tryline. He changed his mind after only two of those metres and hurled a pass to an unsuspecting Greg Martin, who spilt it. Evans pounced and the Lions won the series.
44
England’s Randolph Aston scored 44 points on the 1891 tour of South Africa, but the old scoring system disguises the fact the hard-running 96kg centre racked up an impressive 31 tries, which were worth only a point each. Ten of his tries came in three games over the space of eight days.
45
JPR Williams’s dropped goal from 45 metres in the fourth Test against the All Blacks in 1971 secured a 14-14 draw – and the series.
46
The 1888 Lions squad took 46 days to reach New Zealand, via Tenerife, Cape Town and Hobart. Also on board were 300 weasels and stoats to help fight New Zealand’s booming rabbit population.
47
England first five-eighth Rob Andrew scored 47 points in the Lions jersey and captained the side in their one and only match against France, which was played in 1989 as part of that country’s bicentennial celebrations.
48
Wales winger and Olympic 4x100m relay silver medallist Ken Jones scored 48 points (all tries) on the 1950 tour of New Zealand, including a superb 75m effort in the fourth Test.
49
Wales fullback Leigh Halfpenny scored 49 points in the 2013 Test series against Australia. He kicked eight goals from nine attempts in the deciding Test as Warren Gatland’s men ran out 41-16 winners.
50
England No.8 Doug Prentice, who captained and managed a Lions touring squad, scored 50 points in the 1930 tour of NZ and Australia.
51
Sir Clive Woodward selected 51 players during the 2005 tour of New Zealand. And 26 backroom staff, including his very own spin doctor. It failed spectacularly.
52
Lions skipper Andrew Stoddart – who took over the captaincy on the 1888 tour of NZ and Australia after Bob Seddon’s death – was 52 when he committed suicide in 1915. Stoddart also played 16 cricket Tests for England and once scored a then world-record 485 in 370 minutes while playing for Hampstead despite having spent the entire night before the match playing poker.
53
Tom “Rusty” Richards – who played for both Australia and the British Lions – died at the age of 53 in 1935. Richards, who won the Military Cross in World War I, represented the Wallabies in 1908 and was selected for the Lions – courtesy of playing for Bristol at the time – two years later. He was also part of Australia’s gold medal-winning rugby team at the 1908 London Olympics.
54
Jesse Mogg’s 54th-minute penalty goal proved the difference in the Brumbies’ 14-12 win over the Lions in Canberra in 2013.
55
Wallabies skipper John Eales was born 55 years ago. He captained Australia to a 2-1 Test series win over the Lions in 2001 before retiring from international rugby later that year.
56
Sir Clive Woodward scored 56 points in the Lions jersey – only five more than the number of players he used as the coach of the disastrous 2005 tour of New Zealand.
57
Peter Jackson, one of the stars of the 1959 tour to Australia and New Zealand, scored 57 points as he ran the home defences ragged. Nicknamed “Nijinsky” after the Russian ballet star, he was described by one journalist as the “zaniest runner of all time”.
58
Cecil Pedlow scored 58 points on the 1955 tour of South Africa, including a try in the first Test in Johannesburg that Welsh commentator Cliff Morgan rated as one of the five best of all time. Nelson Mandela was said to be among the 110,000-strong crowd that day. Pedlow also represented Ireland at squash and tennis.
59
England first five-eighth Alan Old scored 59 points in only four games for the Lions on the 1974 tour of South Africa. Old racked up a Lions-record 37 points in the 97-0 win over South West Districts before a leg injury ended his tour. His brother Chris played 46 cricket Tests for England.
60
Russian prince Alexander Obolensky scored 60 points on the 1936 Lions tour of Argentina. The brilliant winger and RAF pilot – whose 75m try against the All Blacks at Twickenham in 1936 is regarded as one of the greatest – was killed in a training accident in 1940 at the age of 24.
61
Legendary Wales halfback Gareth Edwards scored 61 points for the Lions, including a dropped goal in the first Test against South Africa in 1974.
62
Bev Risman’s 62 points on the 1959 tour of Australia and NZ are only part of the story. The brilliant England first five-eighth set up two Lions tries in the first Test – won by the All Blacks thanks to Don Clarke’s world-record six penalty goals – but an ankle injury forced him out of the second and third Tests. He returned in the final Test to score a try in a well-deserved Lions victory. Just as he was being labelled “the next big thing” in union, he followed in his father Gus’s famous footsteps and converted to league.
63
Ireland wing Vesey Boyle scored 63 points in the Lions jersey across the 1936 and 1938 tours before becoming Squadron Leader Boyle and earning a Distinguished Flying Cross as a bomber pilot in World War II.
64
Gwyn Nicholls, the “Prince of Three-quarters”, died in 1939 at the age of 64. He was the only Welshman on the 1899 tour of Australia and came out of retirement to captain Wales to their famous 3-0 win over the All Blacks in 1905.
65
Charles “Cherry” Pillman – regarded as the first all-action wing forward and arguably the greatest player of his generation – scored 65 points on the Lions’ 1910 tour of South Africa. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1918 and also served in World War II.
66
Phil Bennett was 66 when he was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame in 2015. The star of the 1974 series in South Africa, he captained the tourists in NZ three years later. After a few pints, a lot of Welsh fans will tell you he was better than Barry John.
67
Finlay Calder, Lions captain to Australia in 1989, is 67. The Scottish backrower won 34 caps for Scotland and three for the Lions. His brother Jim also played for Scotland and the Lions.
68
The players’ drinks bill on the SS Kaikoura – which carried the first Lions squad to NZ in 1888 – was £68, much to the shock of tour organisers, who had vastly underestimated the players’ drinking ability.
69
Irishman Ronan O’Gara came on in the 69th minute of the second Test in South Africa in 2009 and things quickly went pear-shaped. It started with a bloody head injury, followed by a missed tackle and a shoulder charge that gave Morne Steyn the chance to kick a last-minute winning penalty goal. He didn’t miss.
70
Legendary Irish lock Willie John McBride played a record 70 games for the Lions. He suffered nine consecutive Test defeats before enjoying the glory days of NZ in 1971 and South Africa in 1974.
71
All Blacks winger Bryan Williams, who played six Tests against the 1971 and 1977 Lions, scored 71 points in his Test career, including two conversions and three penalty goals against the tourists.
72
At the age of 20, Welsh winger John Bevan scored 72 points (18 tries in only 14 games) during the 1971 tour of New Zealand. He played only one Test and didn’t score, but it didn’t matter.
73
Lions prop Phil Vickery, who was humiliated by South Africa’s Tendai Mtawarira in the first Test in 2009 but fought back to play in the third Test, earned 73 caps for England. He also played in all three Tests in Australia in 2001.
74
NZ centre Tana Umaga, who captained the All Blacks in their crushing series victory over the Lions in 2005, played 74 Tests for his country.
75
The Lions have worn the famous red jersey for 75 years, introducing it on the 1950 tour to NZ and Australia. They had previously worn red and white hoops; blue, red and white hoops and dark blue jerseys.
76
England prop John Brett scored 76 points in only eight games on the Lions’ 1936 tour of Argentina. The tourists didn’t meet much opposition, scoring 399 points in 10 games and conceding only 12.
77
Lions prop Alex Corbisiero scored a try after only 77 seconds of the third Test against Australia in 2013 – a match won 41-16 by the tourists to clinch the series 2-1.
78
The Lions conceded 78 points in the All Blacks’ four-Test whitewash in 1983. With an All Black starting XV of Hewson; Wilson, Pokere, Taylor, Fraser; Smith; Loveridge; Mexted, Hobbs, Shaw; Haden, G Whetton; Ashworth, Dalton and Knight, the Lions were lucky to come second.
79
Dual international George Gillett died at the age of 79 in 1956. The fullback played union and league for New Zealand, scoring three tries in the Test series against the 1908 Lions. As the ship carrying the Lions squad was leaving Wellington, England lock Percy Down fell overboard. Gillett and teammate Arthur Francis dived in and kept him afloat until a rope could be lowered.
80
Os du Randt played 80 Tests for South Africa. Despite being a double World Cup winner and one of the finest loosehead props in history, du Randt is perhaps best remembered for being run over by Lions centre Scott Gibbs in the second Test in 1997.
81
Australian fullback Matt Burke, whose goalkicking won the 2001 series against Graham Henry’s Lions, played 81 Tests. After the Wallabies lost the first Test, Burke was handed the kicking duties and slotted 11 penalty goals and three conversions and added a try as Australia won the next two internationals.
82
Welshman Dai Davies, a hooker by trade, weighed 82kg when he turned out at prop against Ashburton County/North Otago in 1950 – the lightest prop in Lions history.
83
Former Lions skipper Cliff Morgan, who dazzled South African fans on the 1955 tour, died at the aged of 83. After his playing career, he became a broadcaster and famously commentated on Gareth Edwards’ try for the Barbarians against the All Blacks in 1973.
84
Halfback Dickie Jeeps died in 2016 at the age of 84. Capped by the Lions before he was capped by England, Jeeps played 13 Tests for the tourists, second only to Willie John McBride (17).
85
Lions prop Henry Rew was killed in action at El Alamein 85 years ago at the age of 34. Rew played in four Tests on the 1930 tour of Australia and New Zealand.
86
The All Blacks scored 86 points in the second and third Tests in 2005 in one of the most lopsided Lions tours in history.
87
Welshman Stephen Jones scored 87 points for the Lions, but his then-record 20 points in the second Test against South Africa in 2009 weren’t enough as the Springboks prevailed 28-25 in one of the most brutal rugby games played.
88
Englishman William “Dusty” Hare scored 88 points in six games on the 1983 tour of NZ but couldn’t break into the Test side. He hung up his boots in 1989 with a still-unbeaten world record of 7337 first-class points.
89
Don “The Boot” Clarke, the scourge of the 1959 Lions, played 89 games for the All Blacks. The man who used to practise his goalkicking from halfway during the halftime break – in his bare feet – kicked a then-world-record six penalty goals as NZ snatched an 18-17 victory in the first Test.
90
Des Connor – who played 12 Tests for Australia and 12 for the All Blacks – was born 90 years ago and is still with us. One of the game’s greatest halfbacks played in both of Australia’s Tests against the Lions in 1959 before moving to NZ for work. He is a Queenland Rugby Union life member.
91
Jonny Wilkinson, who toured with the Lions in 2001 and 2005, won 91 caps for England. His 18 points in the third Test against Australia in 2001 was a Lions record until Stephen Jones’s 20 against South Africa in 2009 and Leigh Halfpenny’s 21 against the Wallabies in 2013.
92
Welsh fullback Terry Davies, the leading points-scorer on the Lions’ 1959 tour of Australia and New Zealand, was born 92 years ago.
93
Wales star and gay icon Gareth Thomas scored a try after only 93 seconds of the second Test against the All Blacks in Wellington in 2005. Jonny Wilkinson converted it for a 7-0 lead, but things went rapidly downhill for the tourists as Dan Carter produced a masterclass.
94
All Black centre Conrad Smith, who scored the opening try of the third Test against the Lions in 2005, finished his career with 94 caps.
95
The 1930 tour 95 years ago lasted from May 21 until October 1 and comprised five Tests – four against NZ and one against Australia. The tourists won only one – the first Test against the All Blacks.
96
Ireland fullback Tom Kiernan scored 96 points during the 1962 and 1968 tours of South Africa. He later coached Munster to their historic 1978 win over the All Blacks.
97
The ’97 tour of South Africa was a stunning triumph for the British & Irish Lions’ brand. Not only did they win the Test series against the reigning world champions, a behind-the-scenes documentary, Living With Lions, was a huge success.
98
Scottish halfback Dougie Morgan scored 98 points on the 1977 tour of New Zealand, including what looked like a matchwinning try, conversion and penalty goal in the fourth Test before a late Lawrie Knight try broke the tourists’ hearts.
99
The Lions introduced their famous “99” call during the 1974 tour of South Africa. If one Lions player yelled “99”, all of his teammates – including fullback JPR Williams, who once ran in from 55 yards away – rushed in and punched as many Springboks as they could. The theory was the referee couldn’t send them all off, so he’d send none of them off. And it worked – no Lions player was sent from the field despite this being one of the most violent series in rugby history.
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