Andy Farrell’s British and Irish Lions completed their Test series win with their last-gasp victory over Australia on Saturday 26th July. Hugo Keenan’s try in the final minute meant the tourists won 29-26 in a game that looked to be going the way of the Wallabies, who led 23-5 earlier in the game. It’s the first series win for 12 years, but the Lions are not resting on their laurels. The third Test on Saturday gives Farrell’s men the chance to complete their first whitewash of the Wallabies since 1966, and that was just a two-match encounter!
In this article, we’ll first take a look back at the four previous tours when the Lions won every Test against the Aussies. We’ll also look ahead to Saturday’s game to assess the chances of the current crop of writing their names in rugby union history.
When Have the Lions Whitewashed Australia Before?
As mentioned, since their first Test tour to Australia way back in 1899, the Lions have only whitewashed the Wallabies four times. The most recent three were all two-Test series, which the Lions obviously won 2-0. But we’ll start with the only previous time the Lions have beaten the Aussies 3-0… and it was a long time ago.
Note that the British Lions name was not adopted until 1950, but has been retrospectively applied to earlier tours, so we’ll stick with that here.
1904 – British Lions 3-0 Australia
The Lions’ sixth tour was led by tough Scottish surgeon David Bedell-Sivright, although the Edinburgh Warriors man only played one of the three games against Australia due to a broken leg. After some comprehensive early tour victories against the likes of NSW Waratahs and Western District Combined, the Lions gave Australia a bit of a hammering in their opening Test in Sydney, winning 17-0.
Five more relatively solid tour wins followed, before the second Test took place in Brisbane and went much the same way as the first. At least this time the Wallabies got on the scoresheet, but the Lions still ran out 17-3 winners. They returned to Sydney for the final Test and England completed the whitewash with a 16-0 triumph.
Although it was 3-0 against the Aussies, the Lions didn’t win every match on the tour. They crossed the Tasman Sea and promptly lost 9-3 in a tight game against New Zealand. The Lions also went down 13-0 in their penultimate tour match, against Auckland RU.
As a side note, captain David Bedell-Sivright went on to serve as a Navy surgeon in the First World War and was then posted to the trenches, but sadly he died in 1915… not from enemy action, but rather when he was bitten by an unknown insect and he developed sepsis.
1950 – British & Irish Lions 2-0 Australia
The next time the Lions beat the Aussies without reply was not until 1950. The tourists had enjoyed some whitewash success of Argentina in the intervening years, but the only Test match against the Wallabies had been in 1930, which the Lions lost 6-5.
In 1950, the Lions faced an arduous tour of New Zealand and Australia that included a whopping 30 matches, three times the number included in the 2025 tour. After mixed results in their opening five tour games, the Lions earned a creditable 9-9 draw against New Zealand in their first Test. But they lost the next two against the All Blacks, 8-0 and 6-3.
Thankfully the Lions, who were captained by Irish hooker (and consultant gynaecologist) Karl Mullen, regained their pride by beating Australia in each of the two Tests against them. The tourists won the opener at the Gabba in Brisbane 19-6, and followed up a week later in Sydney with an emphatic 24-3 triumph.
1959 – British & Irish Lions 2-0 Australia
The Lions had a similar tour of New Zealand and Australia nine year later, with a very similar outcome: they lost to NZ and whitewashed the Wallabies. The Lions were captained by another Irish hooker, Ronnie Dawson, who also worked as an architect for the Bank of Ireland.
This time the Lions visited Australia first and enjoyed five wins out of six in total, the only defeat coming against New South Wales. They once against played the Wallabies in Tests in both Brisbane and Sydney and won them both: 17-6 and 24-3, respectively.
After crossing the sea to New Zealand, they lost three Tests to the All Blacks before finishing on a high with a 9-6 victory in Auckland.
1966 – British & Irish Lions 2-0 Australia
This was the last time a Lions side has whitewashed the Aussies on tour. Again, it was a two-Test series, and again the tourists fared much better against Australia than they did against the All Blacks.
This time the Lions were captained by a Scotsman, Mike Campbell-Lamerton, who rose to the rank of colonel in the British Army. Before the first Test, the Lions managed four wins and draw, and the opener against the Aussies in Sydney was closer than the tourists would have liked. But the Lions won 11-8, before following up with a far more emphatic victory in Brisbane when they walloped the Wallabies 31-0.
Can the 2025 Lions Emulate the 1904 Tourists?
Andy Farrell’s current crop of players have shown plenty of grit and determination during their current tour of Australia. The fact they came back from the abyss against the Wallabies in the second Test stands them in good stead going into the final game. The first Test was far from one-sided of course, with the Lions winning that one 27-19. So the tourists will be taking nothing for granted in Sydney on Saturday.
Farrell has shuffled his pack a little ahead of the final game, with James Ryan playing at lock instead of Ollie Chessum and Blair Kinghorn coming in for James Lowe on the left. But he is keeping faith with the core of the side, meaning 11 players will have started all three Tests. Farrell will be hoping this faith is repaid, and though the home side will be desperate to avoid the whitewash, we think the tourists will have enough to get the victory to finish the series with a historic 3-0 triumph.