British and Irish Lions Legends
The Greatest British Lions Rugby Players
By definition, any player selected for a Lions tour is considered amongst the best in Britain and Ireland. Here are a few players who stood out to be considered Lions Legends.
Gareth Edwards – Wales
Very few ‘greatest’ lists of rugby players do not have Gareth Edwards at their head.
Edwards was a three time Lions tourist, making the first of his ten test appearances in South Africa in a losing series in 1968, but it was on the next two tours that he really made his mark in a Lions jersey.
Edwards was a leading light in the two most successful tours in Lions history, starring in both the 1971 tour to New Zealand and South Africa in ’74. Edwards’ strength, speed and power, allied to one of the best passes ever seen in the game, sparked the Lions to victory in both series.
Ironically for such a prolific try scorer for club and country, Edwards’ only points in a Lions test jersey came through a drop goal in the 1st test in 1974.
Willie John McBride – Ireland
The archetypal Lion, Willie John was a British Lions tourist on five occasions spanning 12 years from 1962 to 1974. His record of 17 Lions test caps is unlikely to be surpassed.
McBride’s early Lions career was less than successful. Capped for Ireland as a 21 year old in 1962, he made his Lions debut later that year in an 8-3 loss to the Springboks and he would not taste victory in a Lions jersey until his 10th cap in New Zealand in 1971.
Ever present in the 1971 side in New Zealand, McBride will forever be remembered as the captain of, ‘The Invincibles’, the Lions team who swept all before them in South Africa in 1974 winning 21 out of the 22 matches and drawing the other, the fourth test with the Springboks.
McBride also managed the 1983 Lions, giving him a record of six tours.
Ian McGeechan was a centre who played for the Lions eight times on two tours, 1974 and 1977.
As accomplished as he was as a player, it is as a Lions coach that he will ultimately be remembered. McGeechan has coached the Lions on three tours, winning two of them and losing narrowly in the third.
His finest hour came when he took an unfancied Lions team to play the World Champion Springboks in 1997. McGeechan outthought his opposite number Carel Du Plesis and came up with a game plan which nullified the Springbok’s strengths to win the first two tests of the three match series.
He is coach of the 2009 British Lions team, equalling McBride’s record of being a part of six Lions tours.
Martin Johnson - England
McGeechan selected 6’ 7” second row Johnson as his captain for the 1997 Lions tour. McGeechan commented after the tour that he wanted someone the Springbok captain would have to look up to during the coin toss.
After a solitary cap for England, Johnson appeared on the 1993 tour as a replacement for Wade Dooley and made his debut in the 2nd Test at Wellington where the Lions squared the series.
After leading the Lions to success in South Africa, a series where the Lions were expected to struggle up front. With Johnson leading them, the Lions forwards creaked, but they never buckled.
Graham Henry, the first foreigner to coach the Lions, also appointed Johnson as his captain for the New Zealand series in 2001. This made Johnson the only man ever to have captained the Lions on two separate tours.
Johnson played in 8 tests for the British Lions, 6 of them as captain.
British Lions Badge, New Zealand 2005
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