The 21 things I learnt on the Lions tour

Telegraph

20 hours ago

Sunday's third test brought the curtain down on the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia after six weeks of brutal rugby, long flights and horrific weather.
Andy Farrell's squad will return home with a first series victory in the bag for 13 years, although they fell short of tour expectations after setting themselves the target of a first 3-0 whitewash in nearly 100 years – instead losing the third Test in a 2-1 series victory.
But the result doesn't tell us the full story of the tour – in fact far from it. So Telegraph Sport has documented the 21 things we have learnt along the way Down Under that made the Lions tour what it was.
1. I am (not) legend
The Lions were determined to make themselves legends in Australia. They did not succeed. 3-0 was the only way they could have properly cemented their immortality and even that came with the caveat of the defeat by Argentina. As it was 2-1 makes them good but not great. In fact you could argue that given the standard of opposition – ranked sixth – taking a Test off the world champions and coming within a penalty of a drawn series against South Africa four years ago was the greater achievement.
2. Luck of the Irish (and British Lions)
Obviously you can focus on the series defining clear-out by Jac Morgan on Carlo Tizzano, which was either perfectly legal or GBH depending on whether you are viewing the incident through a red or gold lens. In truth it was a 50-50 call that the Lions had go their way. Across the series, the majority of those breaks went their way such as Dan Sheehan escaping sanction for his own clear-out. Both sides suffered injuries but Australia's were more significant losing fly-half Noah Lolesio for the series and Rob Valetini for all but 40 minutes.
Tom Lynagh flattened by elbow to the head. #AUSvBIL pic.twitter.com/RUtfCOGU4W
— Jobson Growthe (@electricBAU) August 2, 2025
3. Farrell got a few selections wrong…
Andy Farrell got his biggest call right – picking Tadhg Beirne and Tom Curry in the back row, trusting them to come good in the Tests despite their lack of form in the warm-up games. However that show of faith did not apply to Bundee Aki, James Lowe, Andrew Porter or Ronan Kelleher who never really came good. In retrospect, the team should definitely have been freshened up for the third Test when so many guys were running on empty.
4. …and so did Schmidt
Again it is hindsight bias but Dylan Pietsch was awesome for the Western Force against the Lions but did not get a look in until the third Test when he was awesome once again. Tom Hooper, Taniela Tupou and Nic White were also overlooked until the third Test where they were all outstanding. Lukhan Salakaia-Loto was a force of nature whenever the Lions faced him in the warm-up games but never featured for the Wallabies. Go figure.
5. But Farrell is a genius man manager
Winning cures most team issues but usually you will hear one or two grumbles from the camp once the Test side is settled and there are guys on the outside who no longer get a look-in. No such whispers reached my ears in Australia. Here is Ben Earl, who was on the bench for two Tests and dropped from the 23 for the second. 'Every time he talks to the group, I'm like, I'll do anything for that man – I'm ready to play,' Earl said. 'Even when I'm not playing. Every time he spoke to the group, I'm like, God, when the time comes, I'm ready to play for this bloke.'
6. And also an underrated tactical brain
Farrell's aura and his motivational abilities are well known. However, Scotland centre Huw Jones says Farrell's attention to detail is as good as he has ever come across. 'He sees everything so he's prepared to call you out in the middle of the session if something's not good enough. When we're training he's always on and he doesn't miss a beat,' Jones said. 'In real time, he will pick it up on the run if you have just missed the jump on something and you will know about it. It is that level of detail, precision and not accepting anything average or mediocre you may be able to get away with at your club.'
7. Skelton key to the series
Skelton possesses the approximate dimensions of an Ikea wardrobe and plays with the rage of someone who has spent four hours assembling said wardrobe. Weirdly, he has never showed his best form in a Wallabies shirt until now. When he was on the field, Australia outscored the Lions 38-24. Had he played the first Test and more than 43 minutes of the second the outcome could have been very different.
8. Aussies got their mongrel back
Not only did Skelton play magnificently but he brought the snarl back to a Wallabies pack that was far too passive in the first Test. Then there was Scrappy-Doo himself, Nic White, who was barking at anything that moved, not that he saw it that way. 'I certainly don't see anything wrong if someone gets in your face and wants to give it to you, just stand your ground,' White said. 'I am proud of how we played. We can play with some really good skill... I am proud of the boys' commitment to get the job done. It definitely is [a line in the sand]. No more going back. Exactly that.
9. Australians hate the TMO
Even before the tour officially kicked off in Perth, I was being lectured by a taxi driver how the television match official was everything that was wrong with rugby. Given how they missed Dan Sheehan's reckless clear-out of Tom Lynagh but on other occasions wanted to check whether a butterfly had flapped its wing three or four times, you can see their point.
10. Garry Ringrose = hero I
I do not mind repeating myself for about the 27th time but Ringrose costing himself a Lions Test cap by self-declaring his own concussion symptoms might just be the most significant act of the entire series.
11. Charlie Gamble = hero II
For entirely different reasons, Gamble was my favourite player of the tour both for his work at the breakdown and the most magnificent moustache I have ever seen in the flesh.
12. Pierre the poet
My favourite interviewee on the trip referenced bison gladiators and Vikings. What's not to like? He even cracked out a poem.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by The British & Irish Lions (@britishandirishlions)
13. Aussie Rules OK?
At first glance, it looks like an oxymoron in that it seems more like Gaelic football and there appear to be no laws governing the bunfight for possession. But an underrated highlight of the trip was being given a tutorial by a lovely couple sat behind us at the Essendon Bulldogs v Western Bulldogs match. Slowly, I started to appreciate the science behind the madness. They also produce some lovely tracksuits.
14. Quote of the tour 1
'See the weather on Tuesday, that f------ sucked,' Wararahs captain Hugh Sinclair said in response to the Lions accusations that the pitch had been deliberately watered pre-match. Even those words don't do justice to the magnificence of the delivery with the Aussie twang
15. Quote of the tour 2
'No, look, credit to my wife,' Bundee Aki on the small matter of his wife giving birth in a car. Got to love sportsmen. Wonder if he'll also ask her to take the 'learnings' from her waters breaking on the way to hospital.
16. Ireland's succession problem
Ireland dominated every part of this Lions tour from the coaching staff to the squad to their journalists' ability to locate a pub serving after 3am following a match. However not everything is rosy in the green garden. This tour showed that Bundee Aki and James Lowe are on the downward slope. Props Tadhg Furlong and Andrew Porter might not be far behind. Farrell will need to speed up his succession planning for the 2027 World Cup.
17. And England's fly-half issue
More of a 'good' problem that coaches claim to welcome but you suspect they dread. Steve Borthwick had his No1 fly-half in Fin Smith with Marcus Smith his deputy. But then both players had mixed tours while George Ford played lights out rugby in Argentina. And then Owen Farrell enters the chat. Good luck sorting out that pecking order, Steve!
18. Aussie coffee is overrated
There I said it.
19. But their beer might be better
Their hazy IPAs are a different class. Stone Wood and Four Pines especially.
20. And their airports are magnificent
Imagine breezing through security in five minutes and coming into a relaxed environment with restaurants you want to eat in and shops you want to buy stuff from. Returning to Luton is going to be a shock to the system.
21. Low performance padel