Editing British & Irish Lions (section)

===2000–2009===
[[File:British and Irish Lions scrum.jpg|thumb|The British & Irish Lions against New Zealand in 2005]]
In 2001, the ten-game [[2001 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia|tour to Australia]] saw the [[Australia national rugby union team|Wallabies]] win the test series 2–1. This series saw the first award of the [[Tom Richards Trophy]]. In the [[2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand|Lions' 2005 tour to New Zealand]], coached by Clive Woodward, the Lions won seven games against provincial teams, were defeated by the New Zealand Maori team, and suffered heavy defeats in all three tests.

In 2009, the Lions [[2009 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa|toured South Africa]]. There they faced the [[2007 Rugby World Cup|World Cup]] winners South Africa, with [[Ian McGeechan]] leading a coaching team including [[Warren Gatland]], [[Shaun Edwards]] and [[Rob Howley]]. The Lions were captained by Irish lock [[Paul O'Connell]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/8007666.stm |title=O'Connell handed Lions captaincy |date=21 April 2009 |work=[[BBC Sport]] |access-date=21 April 2009 |archive-date=22 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422012015/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/8007666.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> The initial Lions selection consisted of fourteen Irish players, thirteen Welsh, eight English and two Scots in the 37-man squad. In the first Test on 20 June, they lost 26–21, and lost the series in the second 28–25 in a tightly fought game at Loftus Versfeld on 27 June.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rugbybreakdown.co.uk/2009/06/springboks-take-the-series-sa-28-lions-25/ |title=Springboks Take The Series: SA 28 Lions 25 |date=27 June 2009 |access-date=27 June 2009 |publisher=Rugby Breakdown |archive-date=3 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090703051320/http://rugbybreakdown.co.uk/2009/06/springboks-take-the-series-sa-28-lions-25 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Lions won the third Test 28–9 at [[Ellis Park Stadium|Ellis Park]], and the series finished 2–1 to South Africa.