2009 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa

2009 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa
The 2009 Lions tour logo
Date	30 May  – 4 July
Coach(es)	Ian McGeechan
Tour captain(s)	Paul O'Connell
Test series winners	South Africa (2–1)
Top test point scorer(s)	Stephen Jones (39)
Top point scorer(s)	Stephen Jones (65)
Top test try scorer(s)	Tom Croft (2) Shane Williams (2)
Top try scorer(s)	Ugo Monye (5)
← New Zealand 2005 Australia 2013 →

The 2009 British and Irish Lions Tour to South Africa was an international rugby union tour which took place in South Africa from May to July 2009.

The British and Irish Lions played a three-match Test series against South Africa, with matches in Durban, Pretoria and Johannesburg. South Africa won the Test series, defeating the Lions 26–21 in the first Test, and then 28–25 in the second Test. The third Test was won by the Lions 28–9.

The highlight of the series was the second Test, which the Lions had led until the 76th minute, when they fell 25–22 behind. Two minutes later, Stephen Jones slotted a penalty to draw the sides at 25–25 with only two minutes left on the clock. However, two minutes into injury time, Morné Steyn scored a 52-metre penalty kick, to win the match at 28–25.

The tour started with matches against six provincial teams, the Lions winning all six. The Lions also played one match against South Africa's A team, the Emerging Springboks, which was drawn at 13–13.

The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup took place in South Africa during this tour, between 14 and 28 June, using many of the same stadia. The tour followed the 2005 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand and preceded the 2013 British and Irish Lions tour to Australia.

The tour was confirmed by the South African Rugby Union on 21 September 2007. The Lions chief executive John Feehan stated in November 2007 that no home Test match would be played prior to departure, as had taken place in 2005, and that fewer players and personnel would go to South Africa than had gone to New Zealand in 2005.