Ask any British or Irish player and they'll tell you that selection for the Lions is the pinnacle of a rugby career.

The Lions won't be facing the world champions in 2013 - that's the view of one of the world's most-decorated coaches.

Double British & Irish Lion Donncha O'Callaghan is used to touring the world on rugby business, but the Munster and Ireland lock had some different tales to tell his team mates when he returned to training this week after spending seven days in Haiti.

The 2013 Lions tour to Australia may still be three years away but it's never to early to start assessing the extent of the challenge ahead.

Many great British & Irish Lions have gone on to become President of their respective Unions, or chairman of the IRB, but 1959 tourist Bev Risman has broken new ground by being named as the new President of the Rugby Football League.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again! Was that the motto used by Paul O'Connell's battered, bruised and seemingly down and out British & Irish Lions 12 months ago.

With the summer tours now over, the World Cup just over a year away and the 2013 Lions tour edging closer, we'll be taking a regular look at the state of the game in Australia - the venue of the next installment of Lions rugby.

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)

Being selected for a Lions tour is the pinnacle of any British or Irish player's career.

The current global gathering of round-ball enthusiasts is earmarked to change the perception of Africa forever.

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.

Two tours, six Tests, a spell as skipper and appearances in 15 of a possible 21 matches in 2001 and 2005 say a lot about the stature of Martin Corry.

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

Highly respected by team-mates and opponents alike, Jack Matthews was a prominent figure on the 1950 tour of Australia and New Zealand.