2001 British Lions tour to Australia
| 2001 British and Irish Lions Tour to Australia | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Date | 8 June – 14 July |
| Coach(es) |
 Graham Henry
|
| Tour captain(s) |
 Martin Johnson
|
| Test series winners |
 Australia (2–1) |
| Top test point scorer(s) |
Jonny Wilkinson (36) |
The 2001 British and Irish Lions tour to Australia was a series of matches played by the British and Irish Lions rugby union team in Australia.
This tour followed the Lions' 1997 tour to South Africa and preceded the 2005 tour to New Zealand.
The team was captained by Martin Johnson, who became the first and until Sam Warburtons 2017 captaincy the only person to lead the Lions on two tours. The coach was New Zealander Graham Henry. After winning the first of their matches against Australia, the Lions lost the remaining two matches of the test series. This was the first time that Australia defeated the Lions in a series. The tour was noted for tension between the test squad and the midweek squad as well as controversial newspaper columns written by scrum-halves Matt Dawson and Austin Healey accusing the coaching staff of the poor scheduling and training regimes and lack of team spirit.
Jason Robinson scored the first try of the match, putting the Lions up 5 to nil. Andrew Walker successfully kicked a penalty goal for Australia's first points. The Lions scored through Dafydd James, which was converted by Wilkinson. The score at half time was 12–3.
Brian O'Driscoll scored for the Lions in the second half. Wilkinson converted the try, making it 19 points. Wilkinson would also kick a penalty goal as well. Scott Quinnell scored for the Lions, Wilkinson converted. Walker then scored a try for Australia. The Lions won the first Test.
The second test was played at Colonial Stadium in Melbourne. Wilkinson was successful with two penalty goals, giving the Lions a six to nil lead. Burke then kicked a penalty goal for Australia. Neil Back scored the first try of the match, giving the Lions an 11 to three lead over Australia. Burke kicked another penalty goal to make the score 11 points to six to the Lions.
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