DETAILS

The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national team, although they can pick uncapped players who are eligible for any of the four unions. The team currently tours every four years, with these rotating between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in order.

The very first British Lions Tour was set up by former England cricketers, Alfred Shaw (who bowled the first-ever ball in Test cricket), Arthur Shrewsbury and James Lillywhite.

The tour took place in 1888 when captain Robert Seddon led a 22-man squad on a tour of Australia and New Zealand. The squad consisted of predominately of players from England but also featured those from Scotland and Wales.

From 1888 onwards, combined British rugby sides toured the Southern Hemisphere. The first tour was a commercial venture, undertaken without official backing. 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. 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. The 1950s tours saw high win rates in provincial games, but the Test series were typically lost or drawn. The series wins in 1971 (New Zealand) and 1974 (South Africa) interrupted 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 before a Southern Hemisphere tour.