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The British and Irish Lions (formerly the British Lions ¹ and British Isles) are a Rugby Union side comprising the pick of the best players from the four home unions, i.e. England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. They do not have a 'national anthem'. The Lions are exclusively a touring team, and play the traditionally strong southern hemisphere nations of Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.
Originally, poorly organised Lions teams received regular thrashings by their hosts, but by 1955 the tourists were taking the matches seriously enough to obtain a 2-2 draw in South Africa. If the 1960s were forgettable for the Lions, the 1970s saw a renaissance. The 1971 team, centred around the great Welsh half-back pairing of Gareth Edwards and Barry John, secured a series win over the All Blacks.
Perhaps the best known, and undoubtedly the most successful, Lions team was that which toured South Africa in 1974 under the great Irish forward Willie John McBride, which went 21 games unbeaten and triumphed 3-0. The test series was beset by violence. The management of the Lions concluded that the Springboks dominated their opponents with physical aggression. At that time, in test matches the referee was from the home nation, there were only substitutions if a doctor agreed that a player was physically unable to continue and there were no video cameras and sideline officials to keep the punching, kicking, and head-butting to a minimum. The Lions decided "to get their retaliation in first" with the infamous 99 call (99 is a shortening of 999 which in the UK is the phone number for the emergency services such as the police, ambulance or fire brigade). The idea was that a South African referee could hardly send off all the Lions if they all retaliated against "blatant thuggery". At the battle of Boet Erasmus Stadium, one of the most violent in rugby history, there is classic video footage of (Mr(Dr)) JPR Williams running over half the pitch and launching himself at van Heerden after such a call.
Other tours include Test series wins over Australia in 1989 and South Africa in 1997, and defeats by New Zealand in 1977 and 1983, South Africa in 1986, and Australia in 2001.
Postwar tours and captains
Coaches
Other famous Lions (A Pride of Lions)
The Name of the Team
- The side was originally known as the "British Isles", this being the correct geographical and non-political term for the islands which are represented by the team. On the 1950 tour of Australia they adopted the name the "British Lions" after the lion emblem on their jerseys. Since the 2001 tour they have been known as the "British and Irish Lions" out of political correctness and/or respect for the players from Ireland, depending on your viewpoint. They are often called simply the "Lions".
See also
External links
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