2005 British And Irish Lions Tour To New Zealand
In 2005 the British and Irish Lions (the Lions) rugby union team toured New Zealand for the first time since 1993, playing 7 tour matches against first and second division clubs from the National Provincial Championship series, 1 tour match against the national New Zealand Māori representative team, and 3 official test matches against the New Zealand All Blacks (the All Blacks). The Lions lost all 4 games to the national Māori and All Blacks sides, with their 0-3 test match record against the All Blacks marking the first time in 22 years that the Lions lost every test match on tour.
This tour marked the first time that the team toured under the name of "British and Irish Lions". It followed the 2001 British Lions tour to Australia and preceded the 2009 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa.
The team was managed by former England international Bill Beaumont, coached by former England coach Sir Clive Woodward, and originally captained by Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll. O'Driscoll suffered a controversial tour-ending injury two minutes into the first test and England captain Martin Corry took over the captaincy for the remainder of that match. Wales captain Gareth Thomas took over as captain for the final 4 games of the tour.
The poor test results of the 2005 Lions, despite having one of the most experienced playing squads and the largest management team of any Lions tour, led to criticism of Woodward, particularly his selection policy, and prompted commentators to question the future of the Lions.
Read more about 2005 British And Irish Lions Tour To New Zealand: Schedule, Tour Squad, Additions To The Squad, Management, Lions Anthem
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