1950 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia

The British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia in 1950 was the first post-war tour made by the Lions; there had not been one since 1938.

The 1950 team was the first to be nicknamed "the British Lions", rather than just "British Isles" and sported newly redesigned jerseys and a fresh style of play, managing to win 22 and draw one of 29 matches over the two nations. The Lions won the opening four fixtures before losing to Otago and Southland, but succeeded in holding the All Blacks to a nine-all draw. The Lions performed well in the remaining All Black tests though they lost all three, the team did not lose another non-test in the New Zealand leg of the tour. The Lions won all their games in Australia except for their final fixture against a New South Wales XV in Newcastle. They won both of the two tests against Australia, in Brisbane and in Sydney.

Because the team was travelling by boat, rather than by air, as modern tours do, they also stopped off in Ceylon to play an unofficial game against the national team.

Squad

Backs:

Forwards:

Manager: LB Osborne

Results

References

Australia
 1888  •  1899  •  1904  •  1908  •  1930  •  1950  •  1959  •  1966  •  1971  •  1989  •  2001
New Zealand
 1888  •  1904  •  1908  •  1930  •  1950  •  1959  •  1966  •  1971  •  1977  •  1983  •  1993  •  2005
South Africa
 1891  •  1896  •  1903  •  1910  •  1924  •  1938  •  1955  •  1962  •  1968  •  1974  •  1980  •  1997  •  2009
Argentina
 1910  •  1927  •  1936
Non-Tour and Home matches