British and Irish Lions

The Samoans won the title for the second time in three years following a thrilling 27-26 win over defending champions Japan at Tokyo's Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground.

Having trailed 16-0, the Samoans then scored 27 unanswered points, before having to withstand a tremendous fight back by the hosts.

Two late tries saw Japan close to within a point but Ryan Nicholas' conversion of Toshiaki Hirose's try drifted right, much to the disappointment of the large majority of the 5,386 in attendance.

"Japan played very well and forced us into making mistakes. They sure gave us a good fight," said Samoa coach Stephen Betham.

The Scots arrived in Samoa buoyed by a win over Fiji last weekend that included two tries from new cap Tim Visser. Their victory in Lautoka made it two out of two on tour following their 9-6 win over the Wallabies.

A third successive away win would once again improve their IRB World Ranking and make it a wonderful summer for former British & Irish Lions forwards coach Andy Robinson.

Warren Gatland has blamed a below-par first-half performance for the British & Irish Lions' first defeat of their 2013 tour of Hong Kong and Australia.

With Tuesday's trip to Canberra next on the agenda for The British & Irish Lions, we take a look back at their last clash with the Brumbies, a match that went right down to the wire.

The British & Irish Lions went to the home of one of the two schools that played fixtures against them on the inaugural tour in 1888 this week, Sydney Grammar School.