British and Irish Lions Tour

This is where you will find all of The Rugby Paper’s British and Irish Lions Tour news, interviews, reports, opinion and other content.

Australia beat British & Irish Lions to set up Sydney decider

29 June 2013 0 comments

Rookie Christian Lealiifano kicked a last-gasp conversion for Australia as they leveled the series against the British & Irish Lions with a 16-15 win in […]

British & Irish Lions keep Melbourne Rebels scoreless

25 June 2013 1 comment

Despite an average performance, The British & Irish Lions have won their last midweek game on tour beating the Melbourne Rebels 35-0 at AAMI Park. […]

British & Irish Lions win first Test against Wallabies

22 June 2013 1 comment

The British and Irish Lions beat Australia 23-21 in a brutal first Test in Brisbane to take a 1-0 advantage in the three-match series. Tries […]

New Lion Billy Twelvetrees was once allowed to escape as a Tiger

21 June 2013 1 comment

Billy Twelvetrees has gone from uncapped England contender to Lions tourist in the space of five months but, remarkably, he was once considered surplus to […]

Justin Tipuric’s the flanker for me, says Jim Telfer

19 June 2013 1 comment

Warren Gatland has backed himself into a corner by naming Sam Warburton as Lions captain according to Jim Telfer, who believes Justin Tipuric is the man […]

First taste of defeat for outplayed British & Irish Lions against Brumbies

18 June 2013 1 comment

The Brumbies outplayed the British & Irish Lions to claim a famous 14-12 win in Canberra today. True to their style, the Super Rugby leaders […]

British & Irish Lions beat Waratahs but lose Jamie Roberts

15 June 2013 1 comment

The British & Irish Lions overcame a plucky New South Wales Waratahs to maintain their one hundred percent record with a 47-17 win in Sydney […]

Paul O’Connell alongside Richie Gray for me – Simon Shaw

13 June 2013 1 comment

The lack of a traditional heavyweight lock could see Richie Gray earn a spot in the Lions Test team, according to three-time tourist Simon Shaw. […]

Suffering Lions ‘should have called up wrecker Andrew Sheridan’

12 June 2013 1 comment

As Lions props drop by the day, former Wallaby front row Matt Dunning admits he cannot believe Warren Gatland has not called up Andrew Sheridan […]

Ten-try rout for sloppy British & Irish Lions in Newcastle

11 June 2013 1 comment

The British & Irish remained unbeaten in their tour of Australia with a 64-0 win over the New South Wales and Queensland Combined Country in […]

British & Irish Lions overcome feisty Queensland Reds

8 June 2013 1 comment

The British & Irish Lions faced their toughest challenge since the start of their tour of Australian but they remained unbeaten with a 22-12 win […]

Sam Warburton returns to captain British & Irish Lions against Reds

6 June 2013 0 comments

Sam Warburton has recovered from his knee injury and will captain the British & Irish Lions against the Queensland Reds on Saturday. The Welsh openside […]

Nine-try rout for British & Irish Lions against Western Force

5 June 2013 0 comments

The British & Irish Lions have made a successful start to their tour of Australia with a convincing 69-17 win over the Western Force in […]

Wallabies have what it takes insists Dean Mumm

5 June 2013 0 comments

Dean Mumm became the first Australian to take on the Lions in 2013 last Saturday when he ran out for the Barbarians – and despite […]

James Horwill: My Wallabies won’t be punchbags

4 June 2013 2 comments

Australia captain James Horwill issued the Lions a fighting challenge last night, warning that the Wallabies will match them blow for blow. “We are not […]

I won’t be watching the Lions says Toby Flood

22 May 2013 1 comment

Toby Flood aims to deliver his own personal snub to the British and Irish Lions … by not bothering to watch them on TV! The […]

Israel Folau in, Quade Cooper out for Wallabies to face Lions

19 May 2013 1 comment

Cross-code convert Israel Foau is set to become a dual-code international after being named in Robbie Deans’ initial Wallabies squad to face the British & […]

Andy Robinson: My three Lions to scatter the Wallabies

17 May 2013 0 comments

Former England and Scotland head coach Andy Robinson has earmarked Justin Tipuric, Tom Youngs and Leigh Halfpenny as his Lions players to dazzle during the […]

Power will be on from first scrum – Richard Hibbard

16 May 2013 0 comments

Hooker Richard Hibbard says the Lions need to take referees out of the equation by dominating from the first scrum to the last against Australia. […]

“I’m used to being snubbed,” says James Hook

8 May 2013 2 comments

James Hook has made a frank admission about his international future after being excluded by the Lions and Wales on successive days. “It’s obvious that […]

Captain Sam Warburton has winning ways with the referees

7 May 2013 0 comments

Warren Gatland has revealed that a crucial component in his appointment of Sam Warburton as captain of the 2013 Lions was his ability to get […]

Warren Gatland names British and Irish Lions squad

30 April 2013 0 comments

Warren Gatland has announced his British and Irish Lions squad to tour Australia this summer. Welshman Sam Warburton will captain the squad, which includes 15 […]

Michael Owen backs Tom Wood for Lions No.8 spot

14 March 2013 1 comment

This time last year Tom Wood feared he would never properly recover from his toe injury – 12 months on and he is leading the […]

I’d make Justin Tipuric my Lions No.7 says Jim Telfer

6 March 2013 1 comment

Justin Tipuric will form part of an Anglo-Welsh back row in the Lions‘ Test team this summer, according to one of the world’s legendary coaches. […]

Geoff Parling can boss the Lions, says Aussie great Nathan Sharpe

21 February 2013 0 comments

Nathan Sharpe, one of the great Wallaby locks, believes Geoff Parling will be given the responsibility to ‘marshal the cattle’ as the Lions lineout caller […]

Stuart Hogg could grab the limelight for the Lions

20 February 2013 0 comments

When full-back Stuart Hogg made his Scotland debut as a 19-year-old last year he was following in the exact footsteps of his mentor, the former […]

British and Irish Lions’ fans fury over Australian ticket hike

19 February 2013 3 comments

A massive levy on Test match tickets is causing fury among Lions fans wanting to travel to Australia this summer. Face price for Test tickets […]

Leigh Halfpenny boots Lions’ fly-half debate into new territory

15 February 2013 0 comments

Former Lions fly-half Stephen Jones insists the form of Leigh Halfpenny means this summer’s No.10 battle is not as simple as a two-way shootout at […]

£100,000 each – cost of a Lion in Australia

15 January 2013 3 comments

The Lions have agreed to pay out more than £100,000 for every player chosen to go to Australia at the end of the season. In […]

Nick Cain talks to Warren Gatland about the 2013 tourists to Australia

16 December 2012 0 comments

When Warren Gatland held court at Cardiff Castle this week to do an early 2013 Lions stock-take with the autumn series in its last knockings, […]

Andy Farrell and Graham Rowntree confirmed as Lions coaches

12 December 2012 1 comment

As expected, England duo Andy Farrell, Graham Rowntree have been confirmed as Warren Gatland‘s Lions assistants for next summer’s tour of Australia today. England’s defence […]

Manu Tuilagi has Mike Tindall’s Lions vote, but not everyone’s impressed

12 December 2012 0 comments

Manu Tuilagi’s display against New Zealand makes him a certainty for next year’s Lions tour of Australia, according to former England centre Mike Tindall. But […]

Irish rookie Craig Gilroy ‘has X-factor to be a Lion’

5 December 2012 0 comments

Craig Gilroy has the type of X-factor that could see him go from international novice to Lions starter within a season according to one of […]

Lions Greatest XV: full-backs

29 November 2012 1 comment

As the last line of defence, the full-back must be a good tackler with safe hands and a fair bit of pace to come into […]

Lions Greatest XV: Wingers

22 November 2012 1 comment

When it comes to the finishers who play in the two wing positions The Lions come second to no-one. A list of Lions’ wingers reads […]

Lions Greatest XV: centres

15 November 2012 0 comments

Centres are the playmakers and finishers who make the most of the chances created by the fly-halves inside them, and The Lions have had some […]

Lions Greatest XV: fly-halves

7 November 2012 0 comments

When it comes to making the big decisions that determine whether a series is won or lost, Lions fly-halves have always been in the thick […]

Lions Greatest XV: scrum-halves

1 November 2012 0 comments

The best scrum-half I have seen, or am ever likely to see – that was the verdict on Gareth Edwards from Willie John McBride, the […]

Armitage brothers look for Lions spot

31 October 2012 0 comments

The Armitage brothers have accepted they stand more chance of playing for the Lions than they do of getting a recall to Stuart Lancaster‘s England […]

Lions greatest XV: No.8

25 October 2012 1 comment

The position in the middle of the back row is tactically one of the most influential on the pitch, because the ball is either in […]

Lions greatest XV: Fergus Slattery (1974) – openside

14 October 2012 0 comments

There is a body of opinion that the role of the openside flanker has changed significantly in the 41 years since The 1971 Lions Tour, […]

“Warren Gatland must hold his nerve over Lions team,” says Ian McGeechan

12 October 2012 0 comments

In an era when even the finest rugby coaches have a drastically short shelf-life, Sir Ian McGeechan’s longevity of service with the Lions – the […]

Brilliant Brian O’Driscoll is early charger for Lions place

11 October 2012 0 comments

Selecting a Lions team from the ranks of the Aviva Premiership and the RaboDirect Pro12 is a fraught business at this stage of the season. […]

Lions greatest XV: Roger Utley (1974) – blindside

7 October 2012 0 comments

When the going gets tough, blindside flankers get going – and in Peter Dixon and Derek Quinnell (1971), Roger Uttley (1974), Mike Teague (1989), Ben […]

Lions greatest XV: Willie John Mcbride (1974) and Martin Johnson (1997) – locks

30 September 2012 0 comments

When it comes to the big second row turbines which drive the pack The Lions have been able to call on some of the most […]

Lions greatest XV: Jason Leonard (1989) – tighthead

23 September 2012 0 comments

L ions tight head props are the strongest of the strong, the men with iron-girder necks, backs and legs who have to absorb and transmit […]

Jeremy Guscott: Gatland musn’t go looking for problems

22 September 2012 0 comments

I was surprised when Warren Gatland came out with the view that overseas-based players, especially those in France, could rule themselves out of contention for […]