Behind the Lions
Playing Rugby for the British & Irish Lions

An Official Licensed Product of the British & Irish Lions

By Stephen Jones, Tom English, Nick Cain & David Barnes


Welcome to the interactive app edition of Behind the Lions. This is the ultimate edition of this best-selling history of the Lions by four world-renowned rugby writers.

This interactive app edition contains video highlights from every tour from 1955 to 2009, a comprehensive statistical and records section, an abridged history of the Lions and links to the Lions official website, Twitter feed and Facebook page so that you can keep up to date with the latest news from the British & Irish Lions.

The augmented reality feature that is brought to you in partnership with Aurasma allows you to bring your print edition of the book to life. Simply hover your iPad or iPhone over the full-page image at the start of each chapter (from chapter 13 onwards) and the image will come to life with a video highlights reel.

This is the history of the British & Irish Lions… in their own words.
For 125 years the British & Irish Lions have stood out as a symbol of the ethics, values and romance at the heart of rugby union. To represent the Lions is the pinnacle for every international player in Britain and Ireland, and the dream of tens of thousands of avid fans who follow them. A Lions tour, undertaken every four years to the southern hemisphere, is more than a series of rugby matches played out on foreign fields; it is an epic crusade where the chosen few face a succession of mental and physical challenges on their way to the Test arena, where they do battle with the superpowers of the world game.
Behind the Lions sees four esteemed rugby writers from each of the Home Nations delve to the very heart of what it means to be a Lion, using diaries and letters from those who pioneered the concept, to interviews with a vast array of players who have followed in their footsteps. In so doing they have uncovered the passion, pride and honour experienced when taking up the unique challenge of a Lions tour. This is a tale of heart-break and ecstasy, humour and poignancy that is at once inspirational, moving and utterly compelling. And it is the only story worth hearing: the players’ own.