British & Irish Lions

Lore & Background

From 1888 onwards, combined British rugby sides visited countries in the Southern Hemisphere. The first tour was a commercial venture, undertaken without official backing. The next six visits enjoyed a growing degree of support from the rugby authorities, before the 1910 South Africa tour, which was the first tour representative of the four Home Unions. In 1949, the four Home Unions formally created a Tours Committee and for the first time, every player of the 1950 Lions squad had played internationally before the tour.

From the 1950s, tours saw the Lions winning many of the provincial games, but the test series were generally lost or drawn. The series wins in 1971 (New Zealand) and 1974 (South Africa) interrupted this pattern. The last tour of the amateur era took place in 1993. The Lions have also played occasional matches in the Northern Hemisphere either as one-off exhibitions or before a tour.

Reader's Guide

The team is often referred to simply as the Lions. The name 'British & Irish Lions' has been used since the 2001 tour of Australia. The Lions do not currently have a national anthem. For the 1989 tour, the British national anthem 'God Save the Queen' was used. 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. For more than half a century, the Lions have worn a red jersey that sports the amalgamated crests of the four unions. Prior to 1950 the strip went through a number of significantly different formats.

Did You Know?

• The Shaw and Shrewsbury team first played in 1888 and is considered the precursor of the British & Irish Lions.
• The nickname 'Lions' was first used by British and South African journalists on the 1924 South African tour after the lion emblem on the players' ties.
• The red jersey was adopted in 1950 to avoid a kit clash with the All Blacks.