As of 26 June 2017, 835 players have made an appearance for the British and Irish Lions, a rugby union team selected from players eligible for any of the Home Nations – the national sides of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The Lions generally select international players, but they can pick uncapped players available to any one of the four unions. Despite the Lions team name only being used officially since 1950, tours since 1910 by combined teams have been undertaken with the support of the four home unions, and these along with other tours since 1888 by combined teams have been recognised retrospectively as Lions tours. Eligible players in these tours are included in this list.
Unlike the majority of international sides, who will only recognise people that have participated in test matches against international opposition, the Lions consider an appearance for the team against any opposition sufficient to be recognised as a Lions player. This includes players who have appeared as a replacement during a Lions match, but not those who have only been named as part of a Lions touring squad or included as part of a match day squad as a replacement and not participated in a match. [a]
Ceremonial caps were presented for the first time in April 2018 to all players who had featured for the Lions up to that point. The caps were sent out to all 419 living players, and to the next-of-kin for the remaining 416 players that had represented the Lions up to this point. [1]
The numbers are assigned in order of each player's first appearance. Where two or more players make their first appearance simultaneously (for example at the start of a match, or where multiple replacements take to the field at the same time), numbers are assigned in alphabetical order by surname. [2]
List
Notes
- ^ a b Jack Clowes is included on the list of Lions players despite not officially playing during any of their matches. Clowes was banned from playing as the 1888 team were due to depart in a row over professionalism, but travelled anyway and remained with the team throughout the tour.
- ^ Per (Thomas;Thomas 2013, p443-446) matches against the New Zealand, Australia and South Africa national teams since 1891 have been considered test matches. Other matches against international opposition were generally not awarded test status, including the tours to Argentina and the 1989 match against France. The only exception is the match against Argentina in 2005, which was considered a test match with caps being awarded.
- ^ The status of the 2021 match against Japan was not decided before the game took place and will instead be determined after the tour to South Africa is complete. [4] Currently it is treated as a tour match and is not included in the test caps or points totals.
- ^ a b Blair Swannell and Tom Richards played for the Lions and an international side other than the four home unions. Swannell played for the Lions in 1899 and 1904 and then later settled in Australia where he gained his cap in 1905. Richards was born in Australia and had been capped prior to his participation on the 1910 Lions tour. At the time of being selected for the Lions, Richards was playing rugby for Bristol RFC in England.
References
- ^ "British & Irish Lions mark 130th anniversary with one-off ceremonial caps". Sky Sports. 2018-04-26. Archived from the original on 2018-05-26. Retrieved 2018-05-26.
- ^ Cole, Rob (7 June 2013). "Sam's fitting landmark". LionsRugby.com. Archived from the original on 25 August 2017.
- ^ "Lions Player Numbers". British & Irish Lions. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
- ^ Godwin, Hugh (2021-06-26). "Fagerson the latest Scot ruled out with Furlong into Lions starting XV to face Japan". Retrieved 2021-07-04.
- ^ "Lions Player Archive". British & Irish Lions. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
- ^ Thomas, Clem; Thomas, Greg (2013). 125 Years of The British and Irish Lions. Mainstream Publishing. pp. 524–552. ISBN 9781780576657.
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