The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national team, although they can pick uncapped players who are eligible for any of the four unions. The team currently tours every four years, with these rotating between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in order. The most recent test series, the 2021 series against South Africa, was won 2–1 by South Africa.
Alfred Shaw was a Victorian cricketer and rugby footballer, who bowled the first ball in Test cricket and was the first to take five wickets in a Test innings (5/35). He made two trips to North America and four to Australia, captaining the English cricket team in four Test matches on the all-professional tour of Australia in 1881/82, where his side lost and drew two each. He was also, along with James Lillywhite and Arthur Shrewsbury, co-promoter of the tour. He also organised the first British Isles rugby tour to Australasia in 1888.
Andrew Ernest Stoddart was an English sportsman who played international cricket for England, and rugby union for England and the British Isles. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1893.
Two English cricket teams toured Australia in 1887–88. They are generally known as A. Shrewsbury's XI and G. F. Vernon's XI. Shrewsbury's XI also visited New Zealand in March.
The 1888–89 New Zealand Native football team was a New Zealand rugby union team that toured Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand in 1888 and 1889. It mostly comprised players of Māori ancestry, but also included some Pākehā. A wholly private endeavour, the tour was not under the auspices of any official rugby authority; it was organised by New Zealand international player Joseph Warbrick, promoted by public servant Thomas Eyton, and managed by James Scott, a publican. The Natives were the first New Zealand team to perform a haka, and also the first to wear all black. They played 107 rugby matches during the tour, as well as a small number of Victorian Rules football and association football matches in Australia. Having made a significant impact on the development of New Zealand rugby, the Natives were inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2008.
Joseph Astbury Warbrick was a Māori rugby union player who represented New Zealand on their 1884 tour to Australia and later captained the 1888–89 New Zealand Native football team that embarked on a 107-match tour of New Zealand, Australia, and the British Isles.
The 1908 British Isles tour to New Zealand and Australia was the seventh tour by a British Isles team and the fourth to New Zealand and Australia. The tour is often referred to as the Anglo-Welsh Tour as only English and Welsh players were selected due to the Irish and Scottish Rugby Unions not participating. It is retrospectively classed as one of the British Lions tours, as the Lions naming convention was not adopted until 1950.
The 1930 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia was the twelfth tour by a British Isles team and the fifth to New Zealand and Australia. This tour is recognised as the first to represent a bona fide British team and the first to be widely dubbed the 'Lions', after the nickname was used by journalists during the 1924 tour of South Africa.
The 1891 British Isles tour to South Africa was the first British Isles rugby union tour of South Africa and only the second overseas tour conducted by a joint British team. Between 9 July and 7 September, the team played 20 games, including three Tests against the South Africa national rugby union team. The British Isles not only won all three Test matches, but also won all 17 provincial games. Although not named as such at the time, the tour is retrospectively recognised as a British Lions tour.
Robert Lionel Seddon was an English international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Broughton Rangers and Swinton and county rugby for Lancashire. Seddon was capped at international level for both England and the British Isles. Seddon played three matches for England in 1887, and in 1888 was one of only four capped players to represent Britain in the 1888 tour of New Zealand and Australia. Seddon was given the captaincy of the British team, but died in a boating accident halfway through the tour. Seddon and the British team were honoured in 2013 with induction into the IRB Hall of Fame.
British Lions v The Rest was a 1986 rugby union match that saw the British Lions play against 'The Rest' to celebrate the centenary of the International Rugby Football Board. The Rest consisted of players from Australia, France, New Zealand and South Africa. At the time, there were only eight unions affiliated to the Board, thus only players from those countries were chosen. The Rest beat the Lions 15–7 in April 1986 in the match played at Cardiff Arms Park.
Arthur George Paul was an Irish sportsman who played rugby union as a full back, playing club rugby for Swinton and represented Lancashire as a first-class cricketer. Paul was not selected for the England or Ireland rugby teams, but in 1888 he was chosen for the New Zealand and Australia tour as part of the first British Isles team.
Harry Eagles was an English rugby union footballer who played in the 1880s and 1890s. He played at representative level for British Isles, and Lancashire, and at club level for Crescent FC, and Salford, in the forwards.
Joseph Thomas Haslam was an English rugby union full back who played club rugby for Batley and also represented Yorkshire at county level. Although never selected at international level he was part of the British Isles team who took part in the 1888 New Zealand and Australia tour, the first British overseas tour.
William "Mother" Elliot , also known as Bill, was a New Zealand rugby union footballer who toured with the 1888–89 New Zealand Native football team. Elliot was one of five Pākehā (European) players in the predominantly Māori team, and his addition strengthened the side. Playing at half-back, he became one of the most prolific players on the tour, and appeared in at least 86 of their 107 matches in the British Isles, Australia and New Zealand. While on tour he played in all three of the internationals against England, Ireland, and Wales. When he returned from the tour he continued to play provincial rugby for Auckland, whom he represented from 1887 to 1896. Before he departed with the Natives he had twice represented Auckland against the touring British side, and had scored a try against them in the second match, a 4–0 victory for Auckland. He was initially selected for New Zealand for their 1893 tour of Australia, but was unable to secure leave from work.
Jack Clowes, was an American-born British rugby union footballer of the 1880s, who played in Yorkshire for Halifax, and was selected to play at a representative level for the British Isles on the 1888 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia, the first tour by a team representing the British Isles. Clowes is notable for having been prohibited from playing on that 1888 tour due to the Rugby Football Union deeming him a professional, and for the subsequent ramifications of his case contributing to the creation of the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895.
Bob Burnet, was a Scottish rugby union footballer of the 1880s, who played in Scotland for Hawick, and was selected to play at a representative level for the British Isles on the 1888 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia, the first tour by a team representing the British Isles. He and his brother Willie, are also notable for being the first set of siblings to tour together for the Lions.
Willie Burnet (1862–1944), was a Scottish rugby union footballer of the 1880s, who played in Scotland for Hawick, and was selected to play at a representative level for the British Isles on the 1888 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia, the first tour by a team representing the British Isles. He and his brother Bob were the first set of brothers to tour together for the Lions.
The 1888 Southern Rugby Football Union season was the 15th season of the Sydney Rugby Premiership. This was the sixth competition for the Gardiner Challenge Cup which was awarded to the winners of the premiership. The football season was from June till August 1888. The season culminated in the premiership, which was won by Sydney University who were crowned premiers who finished undefeated for the second year in a row. It was during 1888 that the first British Rugby team toured Australia and New Zealand playing two games against a NSW team. The intercolonial matches saw Queensland travel to Sydney to play two games against the home team.
Alfred Shaw 
