One of the central figures in Australia's 2001 series success against the Lions has described the experience as pure 'magic'.

The Lions' defeat to Australia A in Gosford in 2001 was the first reverse of what would prove to be a heartbreaking tour Down Under.

The Lions' 1989 tour of Australia may have ended as a sensational success but the Test series began in the worst possible fashion.

Mike Catt may have only played seven times for the Lions across two tours but the World Cup winning utility back has experienced almost every emotion with the best of the four Home Unions.

The Lions' 40-point hammering of the Queensland Reds in Brisbane sent out a clear message to the Wallabies ahead of the three-match series in 2001.

The 1971 Lions tour will be forever remembered as one of the greatest success stories ever witnessed in British and Irish sport but it wasn't all plain sailing early on.

Younger Lions supporters will remember Jim Telfer for his influential role as forwards coach on the 1997 Lions tour to South Africa, but the older generation will look back just as fondly on his contributions as a player in both 1966 and 1968.

The Lions' second match of the 2001 tour of Australia resulted in another huge win as Graham Henry's men marched towards the 200 point barrier in 160 minutes of rugby.

The second Test between the Lions and the Wallabies in 1966 looks destined to remain a record breaker for ever more.

Neil Jenkins will forever be remembered for his amazing achievements with the 1997 Lions.

The 1966 tour of Australia and New Zealand may be forever remembered for a first-ever series whitewash against the All Blacks but it should also be accompanied by much happier reflections.

A Lions tourist on three occasions, Richard Hill's impact on the outcomes of the 1997, 2001 and 2005 Test series' should not be underestimated.

The Lions' opening match of their 2001 tour of Australia set a host of records that are unlikely to be broken.

Exactly 40 years on from a remarkable triumph, we celebrate the game that ensured the Lions could be not beaten on their historic and unrivalled tour of New Zealand.

Some 22 years ago to this day, the Lions defied the odds to turn a 1-0 Test deficit into an historic 2-1 series victory over soon-to-be World Champions Australia.

The second Test between the Lions and the Wallabies on July 8, 1989 remains one of the most controversial in more than 120 years of touring.

The second Test between the Lions and the Wallabies in 2001 was one to forget from a British and Irish perspective.

Exactly 10 years ago to the day, the Lions recorded one of the most impressive Test wins ever seen on southern hemishere soil.

With Sunday having marked the 40th anniversary of the Lions' first-Test win over the All Blacks in 1971, we take a look at the pack of forwards who started the 9-3 win in Christchurch asking what their Lions careers entailed and what path they have taken since that famous triumph.

To celebrate the start of one of the greatest triumphs in Lions history, we take a look back at the first Test win over the All Blacks in 1971.

With this Sunday marking the 40th anniversary of the Lions' first-Test win over the All Blacks in 1971, we take a look at the 15 players who started the 9-3 win in Christchurch asking what their Lions careers entailed and what path they have taken since that famous triumph.

Ian 'Mighty Mouse' McLauchlan was the cornerstone of the British & Irish Lions packs when they enjoyed their most successful period in the 1970s and will forever be remembered for his vital try in the first-Test win over the All Blacks almost 40 years ago to the day.

With the next installment of Lions action now just over two years away, we take a look back at the last victorious Lions adventure through the eyes of those at the heart of the historic success in South Africa.

The 1974 Lions tour remains one of the most famous in Lions history, but it was also one of the most controversial.

The two Lions tours of the '90s ended in contrasting Test results and two of the stars of those series' believe the success and failure in Saturday matches owed a great deal to the attitude of the midweek team and the way in which the players reacted towards each other.

They say that actions speak louder than words but there's no doubting that words have their place on a Lions tour.

Here's the second installment of our look at the Lions by numbers, a numerical insight into the world's most-famous touring team.

Injury has so often been the scourge of a player's dream of representing the Lions but for one current star it was a blessing in disguise.

In the week that saw The King's Speech lead the Oscar nominations, we take a look back at the life of a Lion with his own remarkable link to King George VI.

British & Irish Lions have to be the best of the best on the field of play but, as Ian McLauchlan demonstrated in 2010, so many great players can also go on to become great figureheads in the game.

We begin the New Year with a stat attack as we look at the Lions by numbers.

The biggest sporting event in the world over the Christmas weekend will be the fourth Ashes Test match between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground with a record 91,000 turning up for the opening session on Boxing Day.

The 2001 tour of Australia was a heart-breaking one for the Lions. A case of what might have been but ultimately never was, the tourists came so close to a second successive series victory only to suffer an agonising defeat.

With Scottish Rugby having announced its inaugural Hall of Fame inductees, we take a closer look at some of the legendary Lions among that list.

It has to have been one of the greatest rugby adventures of all time - the first trip by the British & Irish Lions to Australasia.

It may seem a strange choice for a greatest match considering the overall disappointment of the 2005 Lions tour to New Zealand, but a narrow victory over Auckland five years ago helped the Lions achieve a memorable milestone.

Twice a Lion in the last throws of amateurism, Brian Moore's infectious personality and unbounded enthusiasm make him a hard man to forget.

Terry Davies finished the 1959 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia and New Zealand as the leading points scorer, even though injury restricted him to just 13 of the 31 games.

The class of 1997 created history with an 18-15 second Test win over the Springboks that still ranks as the Lions' greatest moment of the professional era.

An ever-present Test Lion on two successive tours, Rory Underwood tasted the highs and lows with Britain and Ireland's elite.

Scotsman Charles Grieve has the distinction of kicking the last four-point drop goal in Lions history.

A nail-biting win over the ACT Brumbies was one of the stand-out victories of the Lions' most-recent trip to Australia.

The 1989 Lions were the first to visit Australia since 1971, the first to play more than two games in the country since 1966 and only the second ever Lions side to use Australia as their sole destination. Only the Reverend Matthew Mullineux's tourists 90 years earlier had toured Australia without venturing to New Zealand.

One of the most famous, and feared, international rugby venues in the world will host its last Test match this weekend when the All Blacks play Wales in Dunedin (Saturday, 19 June, .2010)

A low-scoring draw in a Test match that was played in incessant rain may not be high on most people's lists of great Lions fixtures but for sheer togetherness and camaraderie, the second Test against the All Blacks on the 1908 tour takes some beating.

The Lions may have been on the wrong end of a series whitewash on the 2005 tour to New Zealand but they were able to celebrate passing 100 points in a single fixture for only the second time in their history.

Andrew Stoddart may not be a household name in sporting circles these days, but just before the turn of the 19th century he was one of the biggest names around.

Thursday July 30, 1891 will go down in history as the date of the Lions' first-ever Test match.

The Lions of 1966 aren't held in too high a regard in New Zealand but they do deserve credit for their success in Australia.

You couldn't have asked for a tighter finish to a more enthralling series.

The Lions tour to Australasia in 1959 was again heavily weighted in favour of fixtures in New Zealand.

Ireland's Bill McKay featured in all six of the Lions' Tests on their 1950 tour of Australasia.

Haydn Tanner was the oldest living Lion until his death a few days after the 2009 Lions landed in South Africa.

Neil Back is the oldest Lion ever to make a Test appearance and the oldest player ever to be named in an original Lions squad.

The Lions that toured Australia and New Zealand in 1950 will go down in history as some of the greatest tourists of them all.

Peter Jackson was one of the most entertaining performers on the 1959 Lions tour of Australasia.

Irish outside-half Ollie Campbell played seven consecutive Tests for the Lions in 1980 and 1983.

The 1930 tour saw the Lions return to Australia for the first time in 22 years.

Dick Milliken was one of the unsung heroes of the triumphant Lions tour of South Africa in 1974.

The aptly named Ken Scotland was a player who gave his all for his country and the Lions.

The 1908 Lions tour was another joint adventure to Australia and New Zealand.

Loosehead prop Phil Orr was twice a Lion during an era when the tourists could boast a pack of forwards who could more than compete with the giants of All Black and Springbok rugby.

Russell Robins was an ever-present during the Lions' four-match Test series in South Africa 53 years ago.

The first tour of the 20th century to Australia and New Zealand was unusual in that it came just a year after the previous Lions adventure.

Sir Carl Aarvold toured with the Lions in 1927 and 1930, captaining the tourists on eight occasions during the second of those trips abroad.

Robert Jones toured twice with the Lions and will forever be remembered as the man who ignited the flames at the Battle of Ballymore.

The 1899 Lions may not have been the first to venture to Australia but they were pioneers in other ways.

Three-times a Lion, a World Cup winner and for a time the world's most capped player, Jason Leonard can boast a hugely impressive CV.

Twice a popular squad member, a respected skipper and the leading points scorer in Test rugby for the world's most-famous touring team, Gavin Hastings can boast a lengthy list of Lions achievements.

Twice a popular squad member, a respected skipper and the leading points scorer in Test rugby for the world's most-famous touring team, Gavin Hastings can boast a lengthy list of Lions achievements.

With the 2013 Lions tour to Australia next on the agenda for Britain and Ireland's elite, we'll be taking a look back at the eight previous occasions the Lions have travelled Down Under.

A Lions tourist in 1910, Welshman Harry Jarman was a hero in the truest sense of the word.

A low-scoring draw in a Test match that was played in incessant rain may not be high on most people's lists of great Lions fixtures but for sheer togetherness and camaraderie, the second Test against the All Blacks on the 1908 tour takes some beating.

It may seem a strange choice for a greatest match considering the overall disappointment of the 2005 Lions tour to New Zealand, but a narrow victory over Auckland four years ago helped the Lions achieve a memorable milestone.

Described during the 1955 Lions tour as the best fly-half ever to visit South Africa, Cliff Morgan ranks as one of the top No10s ever to come out of Britain or Ireland.

Can you imagine it, the British & Irish Lions tour manager writing to the leading newspapers in Australia ahead of the 2013 tour of that country to tell them about the players his British & Irish Lions team was going to take on tour?

Mike Campbell-Lamerton will go down in Lions history as the skipper who gave up his Test place because he believed he didn't merit selection.

The 1980 Lions came close to making history for the wrong reasons. Instead, this well-deserved fourth-Test victory ensured they ended their 18-match tour on a significant high.

He may not have been included in the original touring party for the 1955 series against the Springboks, but Gareth Griffiths certainly played his part once he arrived in South Africa.

Syd Millar is a legendary figure, not just in Irish or Lions folklore, but across the international game itself.

An International Hall of Fame inductee, Mervyn Davies was an ever-present Test player on two of the most successful tours in Lions history.

A 14-14 draw in the fourth and final Test against the All Blacks on this day in 1971 secured the Lions' only ever series victory in New Zealand.

Scotsman Charles Grieve has the distinction of kicking the last four-point drop goal in Lions history.

Riki Flutey will become the first New Zealand-born player for 101 years to feature in a British & Irish Lions Test team when he makes his debut against the Springboks at Coca Cola Park on Saturday.

Ian McGeechan's British & Irish Lions will part a part in the launch of a new rugby franchise for the South Eastern Cape in South Africa in June.

It was 85 years ago in South Africa that the term British Lions was first coined when Ronald Cove-Smith's tourists headed to South Africa.

Dr James Robson tells lionsrugby.com about the unique demands of keeping the squad in one piece across an arduous tour.

No-one is more steeped in British & Irish Lions history than Syd Millar. A player on the tours of 1959, 1962 and 1968, he coached the unbeaten Lions in South Africa in 1974, was a selector in 1977, manager in 1980, a committee member in 1993 and 1997, and Chairman of the last tour, to Australia, in 2001.

The vivid red of their jerseys has been synonymous with the Lions for more than half a century. But the team's colours have changed almost as much as the game itself since the first tour of 1888.

Having lost only once in the last 10 years, New Zealand Maori have a recent record as proud as their long rugby tradition. On Saturday in Hamilton , though, they will seek one of the few big prizes that still eludes them - a victory over the British and Irish Lions.

After finishing eighth in last season's NPC, Otago will not start as favourites to send the Lions into the Test series on the back of a second successive Saturday defeat. History, however, shows that few teams have surprised the Lions as often as the inventors of the ruck.

The Lions will be hoping a change of name brings a change of fortune when they open the 2005 Test series against New Zealand in Christchurch on Saturday.

As the 2005 Lions discovered in their provincial game against Wellington , it's not just the opposition they have to master in New Zealand 's windy capital.

The Lions may have lost the series in Wellington, but a Test victory in Auckland on Saturday would still be a major achievement in its own right.

More than any other member of the Lions coaching staff, Ian McGeechan would have recognised the full significance of the tourists defeat in the opening Test of the 2005 series against New Zealand.

When the British and Irish Lions play Argentina in Cardiff on May 23 rd , they will be making only their third official appearance on home soil.

Lions manager Bill Beaumont says the work the 2005 Lions do before they set off to New Zealand will have a key influence on the success of the tour.