LIVING WITH LIONS [IN2025]

Rugby World covered the entirety of the tour to Australia, so let us take you behind the curtain...

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WHETHER OR not this British & Irish Lions tour was successful depends very much on your definition of the word.

The Lions won the series after being thrown together in just eight weeks. That in itself is mightily impressive. It is only the third series win of the professional era and should not be sniffed at.

Unprompted, they made it clear they had set their sights on a 3-0 sweep with the aim of going down as the best Lions team ever. A subpar showing in Sydney in Biblical conditions saw them fall well short. In truth, even 3-0 would not have lifted them above the class of 2017, 2013 or even the valiant losers in South Africa in 2009.

So how will history treat Andy Farrell's men from 2025? Here's our on-field and off-field findings from six weeks down under...

OFF-FIELD

I was lucky enough to be in Australia from the very start in Perth to the bitter end and it was painfully clear that for the Lions, high performance came before anything else. Dan Sheehan, the world's best hooker, seemed bemused when we asked him about connecting with the fans and the country beyond just getting an on-field result before the first Test. “I think the best way to connect with them (the fans) is give them a win. I think a performance is the way to do that.

“Yeah, we can give them a cheer and a clap after the game but ultimately that’s not what they came for, they came for a good game of rugby. If we do that, they’ll feel part of it.”

Sheehan, for all his talent, was a bit naive to think the Sea of Red is results-driven.

Players bang on about process over outcome and it applies to the fans here. Look at the legions of Welsh supporters travelling over who didn’t even have a player from their nation involved in the 23 in the series opener in Brisbane.