If you watch enough British and Irish Lions footage you will hear the word special mentioned a lot and I can see why.
They’ve been touring since 1888!
That’s an age.
Not many tournaments are as old as that.
It’s even got 100 years on the Rugby World Cup.
But what I find interesting is that it’s become special now.
It was probably seen as weird and alien back then.
You want me to play alongside Englishmen? That’s ludicrous.
I imagine many players turned down the offer because it felt like a scam.
But now it’s the greatest honour for a rugby player. Because they watched the tours of old. Because it only comes around every four years. Because they’ve seen how the public have bought into it.
Thomas Duggan 