THE RED LIONS, EPISODE THREE: Rancour and revival; 2001-2021

From The Ruck, the rugby podcast from the Times & Sunday Times we present: The Red Lions.

A special three-part podcast series covering 75 years of the British & Irish Lions through the voices of the players involved and the pages of The Times and Sunday Times.

The Lions have been rugby’s great adventurers since 1888. But it was not until the 1950 tour of New Zealand that they adopted their famous red jersey.

Through this series we will build a golden thread that links that band of intrepid adventurers - the last to go on tour by boat - with this year’s ultra professional squad of Lions who will take on Australia.

Episode three begins with the Lions struggling for success in the professional era and unable to emulate the triumph of '97 before finishing with the strangest Lions tour of all, during covid times in South Africa. In between Ian McGeechan and Warren Gatland steer the famous red jersey to glory in defeat, victory and a draw.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Ruck is the journalists rugby podcast from The Times & The Sunday Times. Join Alfie Reynolds, Alex Lowe, Will Kelleher and a selection of guests every week as they provide insight and reports throughout the season, including big name interviews and forthright analysis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

• No. of episodes: 493
• Latest episode: 2025-07-14
• Sports

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