1993 British Lions tour to New Zealand

In 1993 the British Lions rugby union team toured New Zealand. This tour followed the Lions' 1989 tour to Australia and preceded their 1997 tour to South Africa. It was the last Lions tour in the sport's amateur era.

1993 British Lions tour to New Zealand
Date22 May – 3 July
Coach(es) Ian McGeechan
Tour captain(s) Gavin Hastings
Test series winners New Zealand (2–1)
Top test point scorer(s) Gavin Hastings (38)

The Lions lost the first test match, but won the second to level the series, with New Zealand winning the deciding third test (with the Lions traveling support controversially dispersed around Eden Park at the request of NZRFU). The tour was managed by Geoff Cooke, coached by Ian McGeechan and Dick Best and captained by Gavin Hastings.

Squad

Backs
Name Club Home nation Notes
Rob AndrewWasps England
Stuart BarnesBath England
Will CarlingHarlequins England
Tony ClementSwansea Wales
Vince CunninghamSt Mary's College RFC IrelandReplacement for Scott Hastings
Ieuan EvansLlanelli Wales
Scott GibbsSwansea Wales
Jeremy GuscottBath England
Gavin Hastings (c)Watsonians Scotland
Scott HastingsWatsonians Scotland
Ian HunterNorthampton England
Robert JonesSwansea Wales
Dewi MorrisOrrell England
Andy NicolDundee HSFP ScotlandTemporary replacement for Robert Jones
Rory UnderwoodLeicester and RAF England
Tony UnderwoodLeicester England
Richard WallaceGarryowen IrelandReplacement for Ian Hunter

Forwards
Name Club Home nation Notes
Martin BayfieldNorthampton England
Paul BurnellLondon Scottish Scotland
Ben ClarkeBath England
Damian CroninLondon Scottish Scotland
Wade DooleyPreston Grasshoppers England
Mick GalweyShannon Ireland
Martin JohnsonLeicester EnglandReplacement for Wade Dooley
Jason LeonardHarlequins England
Kenny MilneHeriot's FP Scotland
Brian MooreHarlequins England
Nick PopplewellGreystones RFC Ireland
Andy ReedBath Scotland
Dean RichardsLeicester England
Mike TeagueGloucester RFC England
Richard WebsterSwansea Wales
Peter WinterbottomHarlequins England
Peter WrightBoroughmuir Scotland

Schedule
Date Opponent Location Result Score
22 May North Auckland Whangarei Won 17–30
26 May North Harbour Auckland Won 29–13
29 May New Zealand Māori Wellington Won 20–24
2 June Canterbury Lancaster Park, Christchurch Won 10–28
5 June Otago Dunedin Lost 37–24
8 June Southland Invercargill Won 16–34
12 June New Zealand Lancaster Park, Christchurch Lost 20–18
16 June Taranaki New Plymouth Won 25–49
19 June Auckland Auckland Lost 23–18
22 June Hawke's Bay McLean Park, Napier Lost 29–17
26 June New Zealand Athletic Park, Wellington Won 7–20
29 June Waikato Hamilton Lost 38–10
3 July New Zealand Eden Park, Auckland Lost 30–13
Played Won Drawn Lost
13 7 0 6

Test Series

The first test was won by New Zealand, helped by several debated refereeing decisions. The Lions won the second Test decisively, with a particularly strong performance by Ben Clarke.[1]

Thus the series came down to the third Test decider at Eden Park. The teams were;

New Zealand: John Timu; John Kirwan, Frank Bunce(T), Lee Stensness, Inga Tuigamala; Grant Fox(3C/3P), Jon Preston(T); Craig Dowd, Sean Fitzpatrick (capt)(T), Olo Brown; Robin Brooke, Ian Jones; Jamie Joseph, Michael Jones, Arran Pene Bench: Mark Cooksley, Zinzan Brooke, Matthew Cooper, Ant Strachan, Graham Dowd, Bull Allen

British & Irish Lions: Gavin Hastings (capt)(C/2P); Ieuan Evans, Scott Gibbs(T), Jerry Guscott, Rory Underwood; Rob Andrew, Dewi Morris; Nick Popplewell, Brian Moore, Jason Leonard; Martin Johnson, Martin Bayfield; Ben Clarke, Peter Winterbottom, Dean Richards Bench: Tony Clement, Will Carling, Robert Jones, Paul Burnell, Kenny Milne, Mike Teague

The Lions moved to a 0-10 lead, but New Zealand, goaded by strong local pressure, recovered to win.[2]

References
  1. https://www.therugbypaper.co.uk/features/columnists/brendan-gallagher/28173/brendan-gallagher-remembers-the-1993-lions-tour/
  2. https://www.lionsrugby.com/2016/07/03/on-this-day-brave-1993-lions-go-down-in-decisive-auckland-test/
  • Stephen Jones, ed. (1994). Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook 1994–95. Headline. ISBN 0-7472-7850-4.
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