Editing British & Irish Lions (section)

===1910–1949===
[[File:British isles rugby team 1910.jpg|thumb|left|Official photo of the squad that toured on South Africa in 1910]]
Visits that took place before the 1910 South Africa tour (the first selected by a committee from the four Home Unions) had enjoyed a growing degree of support from the authorities, although only one of these included representatives of all four nations. The 1910 tour to South Africa marked the official beginning of British Isles rugby tours: the inaugural tour operating under all four unions. The team performed moderately against the non-test teams, claiming victories in just over half their matches, and the test series went to South Africa, who won two of the three games. A side managed by Oxford University — supposedly the England rugby team, but actually including three Scottish players — [[1910 British Lions tour to Argentina|toured Argentina]] at the time: the people of Argentina termed it the "Combined British".

The next British Isles team tour did not take place until [[1924 British Lions tour to South Africa|1924]], again in South Africa. The team, led by [[Ronald Cove-Smith]], struggled with injuries and lost three of the four test matches, drawing the other 3–3. In total, 21 games were played, with the touring side winning 9, drawing 3 and losing 9.

[[File:British lions fourth test arg 1927.jpg|thumb|The British Lions before playing the 4th. match v. [[Argentina national rugby team|Argentina]] during their second tour to the country in [[1927 British Lions tour to Argentina|1927]]]]
In [[1927 British Lions tour to Argentina|1927]] a short, nine-game series took place in Argentina, with the British isles winning all nine encounters, and the tour was a financial success for [[Rugby union in Argentina|Argentine rugby]]. The Lions returned to New Zealand in 1930 with some success. The Lions won all of their games that did not have test status except for the matches against [[Auckland]], [[Wellington]] and [[Canterbury Rugby Football Union|Canterbury]], but they lost three of their four test matches against [[New Zealand national rugby union team|New Zealand]], winning the first test 6–3. The side also visited Australia, losing a test but winning five out of the six non-test games.

In [[1936 British Lions tour to Argentina|1936]] the British Isles visited Argentina for the third time, winning all ten of their matches and only conceding nine points in the whole tour. Two years later in 1938 the British Isles toured in South Africa, winning more than half of their normal matches. Despite having lost the test series to South Africa by game three, they won the final test. This is when they were named THE LIONS by their then Captain Sam Walker.