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BRITISH & IRISH LIONS

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Past Lions series without victory

Wednesday 06th July 2005

Whitewash in prospect

The Lions have toured Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. If we count the Anglo-Welsh of 1908 there have been 28 series altogether. The Lions have left their opponents without a win in the series and then also suffered series when they were without victory.

The Lions whitewashed the South Africans once and the Australians three times. The All Blacks have whitewashed the Lions twice. The 2005 series is on the brink of another whitewash.

In 1891 the Lions cut a swathe through South Africa, winning every match with just a single try scored against them. They won the series 3-0, a whitewash.

In 1974 they won the series 3-0 with a draw in the fourth.

In Australia in 1904 the Lions won all three in the series, and in 1959 and again in 1966 both Tests in the series. Whitewash times three.

That gives the Lions five series to nil on tours south.

In 1903 the South Africans won the series 1-0 with two matches drawn, in 1924, in 1962 and again in 1968 3-0 with one match drawn.

In 1908 in New Zealand the All Blacks won the series 2-0 with a draw. In 1950 it was 3-0 with a draw but in 1966 and 1983 the All Blacks won all four Tests.

That leaves the Lions with eight series without a Test victory, two of them whitewashes.

A whitewash is not a good feeling. The 1938 Lions in South Africa were well beaten in the series but won the last Test when the Springboks thought their week in Cape Town was party time. The 1980 Lions avoided it in South Africa by winning the fourth Test in Pretoria.

In 1959 the Lions lost the first three Tests of the series but came back to win the fourth 9-6 at Eden Park. They could quite easily have done even better were it not for the boom-boom boot of Don Clarke.