Great Britain national rugby team
 |
|
| Unions |
Rugby Football Union Irish Rugby Football Union Scottish Rugby Union Welsh Rugby Union |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Lions |
| Coach(es) | Warren Gatland (2017 tour) |
| Captain(s) | Sam Warburton (2017 tour) |
| Most caps |
 Willie John McBride (17) |
| Most appearances |
Willie John McBride
|
| Top scorer |
 Andy Irvine (274 in all matches) Gavin Hastings (66 in Tour Tests)
|
| Most tries |
Sir Anthony O'Reilly (38) |
| First match | |
 Otago 3 – 8 Shaw & Shrewsbury Team  (28 April 1888) |
|
| Largest win | |
 Western Australia 10–116 British and Irish Lions(8 June 2001) |
|
| Largest test win | |
 Argentina 0–46 British Lions(7 Aug 1927) |
|
| Largest defeat | |
 New Zealand 38–6 British Lions(16 July 1983) |
|
| Largest test defeat | |
|
New Zealand 38–6 British Lions (16 July 1983) |
|
The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for any of the Home Nations – the national sides of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The Lions are a Test side, and generally select international players, but they can pick uncapped players available to any one of the four unions. The side tours every four years, with these rotating among Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. The 2009 Test series was lost 2–1 to South Africa, while the 2013 Test series was won 2–1 over Australia.
From 1888 onwards combined rugby sides from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland toured the Southern Hemisphere. The first tour was a commercial venture, and was 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 winning series in 1971 (New Zealand) and 1974 (South Africa) changed this pattern. The last tour of the amateur age took place in 1993.
The multi-nation team that is today named the British and Irish Lions first came into existence in 1888 as the Shaw & Shrewsbury Team. It was then primarily English in composition but also contained players from Scotland and Wales. Later the name British Isles became associated with the team. 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.
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Wikipedia