Lions breathe in spirit of Sydney as they weigh up Wallabies

Head coach brings echoes of his famous 'hurt arena' speech as the touring side touches down in Australia

- Robert Kitson

The logistics involved in touring Australia with the British & Irish Lions have changed slightly over the years. On the first Lions tour in 1888 the 22 selected players were away from home for 249 days and, in addition to 35 games of rugby, were also required to play 19 games of what we now know as Australian rules football.

It took 46 days by boat to reach their destination and attempts to hone their skills on the SS Kaikoura had to be abandoned after all the squad's rugby balls disappeared over the side. The ship, as chronicled in the beautifully updated official history of the Lions, even had 300 stoats and weasels on board as part of a plan to deal with the rabbit population in New Zealand, their first port of call, where they played nine matches.

The tour was also touched with tragedy when the captain, Robert Seddon, drowned in a boating accident in Maitland, New Zealand after capsizing his outrigger and being unable to swim clear because his feet were strapped to the footrest. All things considered, the Lions did astonishingly well to leave Australia undefeated in their 16 rugby games, having even won nine of the 19 contests they played under Victorian rules.

What price 137 years later - and off the back of a sobering defeat against Argentina in Dublin - of an unbeaten nine-game tour of Australia by a 38-man squad commanded by the head coach, Andy Farrell? The Lions are being quoted at 1/3 to win the three-Test series but those odds ignore the less cosy reality. The Wallabies are regrouping, defeated England and Wales away in the autumn and, unless a black jersey and a silver fern are involved, can be awkward opponents at home.