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British & Irish Lions
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. Since 1989, the team has toured every four years, with these rotating between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in order. The Lions most recently toured Australia in 2025 and won the test series 2–1.
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.
The Shaw and Shrewsbury team first played in 1888 and is considered the precursor of the British & Irish Lions. It was then primarily English in composition but also contained players from Scotland and Wales. Later the team used the name British Isles.[when?] On their 1950 tour of New Zealand and Australia they officially adopted the name British Lions, the nickname first used by British and South African journalists on the 1924 South African tour after the lion emblem on their ties, the emblem on their jerseys having been dropped in favour of the four-quartered badge with the symbols of the four represented unions.
When the team first emerged in the 19th century, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was one single state. The team continued after the Irish Free State was set up in 1922, but was still known as the British Lions or British Isles. The name "British & Irish Lions" has been used since the 2001 tour of Australia. The team is often referred to simply as the Lions.
As the Lions represent four rugby unions, which cover two sovereign states, they 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.
In 1888, the promoter of the first expedition to Australia and New Zealand, Arthur Shrewsbury, demanded "something that would be good material and yet take them by storm out here". The result was a jersey in thick red, white and blue hoops, worn above white shorts and dark socks. The tours to South Africa in 1891 and 1896 retained the red, white and blue theme but this time as red and white hooped jerseys and dark blue shorts and socks. The 1899 trip to Australia saw a reversion to red, white and blue jerseys, but with the blue used in thick hoops and the red and white in thin bands. The shorts remained blue, as did the socks although a white flash was added to the latter. The one-off test in 1999 between England and Australia that was played to commemorate Australia's first test against Reverend Matthew Mullineux's British side saw England wear an updated version of this jersey. In 1903, the South Africa tour followed on from the 1896 tour, with red and white hooped jerseys. The slight differences were that the red hoops were slightly thicker than the white (the opposite was true in 1896), and the white flash on the socks introduced in 1899 was partially retained. The Australia tour of 1904 saw exactly the same kit as in 1899. In 1908, with the Scottish and Irish unions not taking part, the Anglo-Welsh side sported red jerseys with a thick white band on tour to Australia and New Zealand. Blue shorts were retained, but the socks were for the first time red, with a white flash.
The Scots were once again involved in Tom Smyth's 1910 team to South Africa. Thus, dark blue jerseys were introduced with white shorts and the red socks of 1908. The jerseys also had a single lion-rampant crest. The 1924 tour returned to South Africa, retaining the blue jerseys but now with shorts to match. It is the 1924 tour that is credited as being the first in which the team were referred to as "the Lions", the irony being that it was on this tour that the single lion-rampant crest was replaced with the forerunner of the four-quartered badge with the symbols of the four represented unions, that is still worn today. Although the lion had been dropped from the jersey, the players had worn the lion motif on their ties as they arrived in South Africa, which led the press and public referring to them as "the Lions".
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British & Irish Lions
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. Since 1989, the team has toured every four years, with these rotating between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in order. The Lions most recently toured Australia in 2025 and won the test series 2–1.
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.
The Shaw and Shrewsbury team first played in 1888 and is considered the precursor of the British & Irish Lions. It was then primarily English in composition but also contained players from Scotland and Wales. Later the team used the name British Isles.[when?] On their 1950 tour of New Zealand and Australia they officially adopted the name British Lions, the nickname first used by British and South African journalists on the 1924 South African tour after the lion emblem on their ties, the emblem on their jerseys having been dropped in favour of the four-quartered badge with the symbols of the four represented unions.
When the team first emerged in the 19th century, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was one single state. The team continued after the Irish Free State was set up in 1922, but was still known as the British Lions or British Isles. The name "British & Irish Lions" has been used since the 2001 tour of Australia. The team is often referred to simply as the Lions.
As the Lions represent four rugby unions, which cover two sovereign states, they 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.
In 1888, the promoter of the first expedition to Australia and New Zealand, Arthur Shrewsbury, demanded "something that would be good material and yet take them by storm out here". The result was a jersey in thick red, white and blue hoops, worn above white shorts and dark socks. The tours to South Africa in 1891 and 1896 retained the red, white and blue theme but this time as red and white hooped jerseys and dark blue shorts and socks. The 1899 trip to Australia saw a reversion to red, white and blue jerseys, but with the blue used in thick hoops and the red and white in thin bands. The shorts remained blue, as did the socks although a white flash was added to the latter. The one-off test in 1999 between England and Australia that was played to commemorate Australia's first test against Reverend Matthew Mullineux's British side saw England wear an updated version of this jersey. In 1903, the South Africa tour followed on from the 1896 tour, with red and white hooped jerseys. The slight differences were that the red hoops were slightly thicker than the white (the opposite was true in 1896), and the white flash on the socks introduced in 1899 was partially retained. The Australia tour of 1904 saw exactly the same kit as in 1899. In 1908, with the Scottish and Irish unions not taking part, the Anglo-Welsh side sported red jerseys with a thick white band on tour to Australia and New Zealand. Blue shorts were retained, but the socks were for the first time red, with a white flash.
The Scots were once again involved in Tom Smyth's 1910 team to South Africa. Thus, dark blue jerseys were introduced with white shorts and the red socks of 1908. The jerseys also had a single lion-rampant crest. The 1924 tour returned to South Africa, retaining the blue jerseys but now with shorts to match. It is the 1924 tour that is credited as being the first in which the team were referred to as "the Lions", the irony being that it was on this tour that the single lion-rampant crest was replaced with the forerunner of the four-quartered badge with the symbols of the four represented unions, that is still worn today. Although the lion had been dropped from the jersey, the players had worn the lion motif on their ties as they arrived in South Africa, which led the press and public referring to them as "the Lions".