2001 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia
2001 tour badge
Date	8 June  – 14 July
Coach(es)	Graham Henry
Tour captain(s)	Martin Johnson
Test series winners	Australia (2–1)
Top test point scorer(s)	Jonny Wilkinson (36)
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2001 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia
Summary	P W D L
Total	10 07 00 03
Test match	03 01 00 02
Opponent	P W D L
Australia	3 1 0 2

The 2001 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia was a series of matches played by the British & Irish Lions rugby union team in Australia.

The Lions squad was captained by Martin Johnson, the first player to lead the Lions on two tours. The head coach was New Zealander Graham Henry. After winning the first of their matches against Australia, the Lions lost the remaining two matches of the test series. This was the first time that Australia defeated the Lions in a series. The tour was noted for tension between the test squad and the midweek squad as well as controversial newspaper columns written by scrum-halves Matt Dawson and Austin Healey, accusing the coaching staff of poor scheduling and training regimes and lack of team spirit.

Squad

Name	Position	Club	Home Nation	Notes
Iain Balshaw	Full-back	Bath	England
Matt Perry	Full-back	Bath	England
Ben Cohen	Wing	Northampton Saints	England
Dafydd James	Wing	Llanelli	Wales
Dan Luger	Wing	Saracens	England
Jason Robinson	Wing	Sale Sharks	England
Tyrone Howe	Wing	Ulster	Ireland	Injury replacement for Dan Luger
Mike Catt	Centre	Bath	England
Will Greenwood	Centre	Harlequins	England
Rob Henderson	Centre	London Wasps	Ireland
Brian O'Driscoll	Centre	Leinster	Ireland
Mark Taylor	Centre	Swansea	Wales
Scott Gibbs	Centre	Swansea	Wales	Injury replacement for Mike Catt
Neil Jenkins	Fly-half	Cardiff	Wales
Ronan O'Gara	Fly-half	Munster	Ireland
Jonny Wilkinson	Fly-half	Newcastle Falcons	England
Matt Dawson	Scrum-half	Northampton Saints	England
Austin Healey	Scrum-half	Leicester Tigers	England
Rob Howley	Scrum-half	Cardiff	Wales
Andy Nicol	Scrum-half	Glasgow	Scotland	Injury replacement for Rob Howley
Jason Leonard	Prop	Harlequins	England
Darren Morris	Prop	Swansea	Wales
Tom Smith	Prop	Brive	Scotland
Phil Vickery	Prop	Gloucester	England
Dai Young	Prop	Cardiff	Wales
Phil Greening	Hooker	London Wasps	England
Robin McBryde	Hooker	Llanelli	Wales
Keith Wood	Hooker	Harlequins	Ireland
Mark Regan	Hooker	Bristol	England
Gordon Bulloch	Hooker	Glasgow	Scotland	Injury replacement for Phil Greening;
Dorian West	Hooker	Leicester Tigers	England	Called up as back-up after a number of injuries to the squad
Jeremy Davidson	Lock	Castres	Ireland
Danny Grewcock	Lock	Saracens	England
Martin Johnson (c)	Lock	Leicester Tigers	England
Scott Murray	Lock	Saracens	Scotland
Malcolm O'Kelly	Lock	St Mary's College	Ireland
Neil Back	Back row	Leicester Tigers	England
Colin Charvis	Back row	Swansea	Wales
Lawrence Dallaglio	Back row	London Wasps	England
Richard Hill	Back row	Saracens	England
Scott Quinnell	Back row	Llanelli	Wales
Simon Taylor	Back row	Edinburgh	Scotland
Martyn Williams	Back row	Cardiff	Wales
Martin Corry	Back row	Leicester Tigers	England	Injury replacement for Simon Taylor
David Wallace	Back row	Munster	Ireland	Injury replacement for Lawrence Dallaglio

Results

Test series

First test

Jason Robinson scored the first try of the match, putting the Lions up 5–0. Andrew Walker successfully kicked a penalty for Australia's first points. The Lions scored through Dafydd James, which was converted by Wilkinson. The score at half-time was 12–3.

Brian O'Driscoll scored for the Lions in the second half. Wilkinson converted the try before kicking a penalty to make the score 22–3. Scott Quinnell then scored for the Lions, with Wilkinson converting. Walker then scored a try for Australia.

30 June 2001 19:00

Australia	13–29	British & Irish Lions
Try: Grey 66' m Walker 68' m Pen: Walker 18'	Report	Try: Robinson 3' m James 32' c O'Driscoll 41' c Quinnell 50' c Con: Wilkinson (3) Pen: Wilkinson 44'

The Gabba, Brisbane Attendance: 37,460 Referee: André Watson (South Africa)

FB 15 Chris Latham  41' RW 14 Andrew Walker OC 13 Daniel Herbert IC 12 Nathan Grey LW 11 Joe Roff FH 10 Stephen Larkham  52' SH 9 George Gregan N8 8 Toutai Kefu OF 7 George Smith BF 6 Owen Finegan  72' RL 5 John Eales (c)  61' LL 4 David Giffin TP 3 Glen Panoho  61' HK 2 Jeremy Paul  52' LP 1 Nick Stiles Replacements: HK 16 Michael Foley  52' PR 17 Ben Darwin  61' LK 18 Matt Cockbain  61' FL 19 David Lyons  72' SH 20 Chris Whitaker FH 21 Elton Flatley  52' FB 22 Matt Burke  41' Coach: Rod Macqueen

FB 15 Matt Perry  41' RW 14 Dafydd James OC 13 Brian O'Driscoll IC 12 Rob Henderson LW 11 Jason Robinson FH 10 Jonny Wilkinson SH 9 Rob Howley N8 8 Scott Quinnell  61' OF 7 Richard Hill BF 6 Martin Corry  61' RL 5 Danny Grewcock LL 4 Martin Johnson (c) TP 3 Phil Vickery  74' HK 2 Keith Wood LP 1 Tom Smith  74' Replacements: HK 16 Gordon Bulloch PR 17 Jason Leonard  74' FL 18 Colin Charvis  61' FL 19 Martyn Williams SH 20 Matt Dawson SH 21 Austin Healey FB 22 Iain Balshaw  41' Coach: Graham Henry

Second test

The second test was played at Colonial Stadium in Melbourne. Wilkinson was successful with two penalty goals, giving the Lions a 6–0 lead. Burke then kicked a penalty goal for Australia. Neil Back scored the first try of the match, giving the Lions an 11–3 lead over Australia. Burke kicked another penalty goal to make the score 11–6 to the Lions.

Joe Roff scored a try for Australia in the second half, making the score 11–11. Burke kicked a penalty goal to give Australia the lead. The score became 21–11 when Roff scored his second try. Wilkinson then kicked a penalty goal to make it 21–14. Burke then scored a try for Australia, making it 29–14. Burke kicked another two penalty goals.

7 July 2001 19:00

Australia	35–14	British & Irish Lions
Try: Roff (2) Burke Con: Burke Pen: Burke (6)	Report	Try: Back Pen: Wilkinson (3)

Colonial Stadium, Melbourne Attendance: 56,605 Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)

FB 15 Matt Burke RW 14 Andrew Walker OC 13 Daniel Herbert IC 12 Nathan Grey LW 11 Joe Roff FH 10 Stephen Larkham SH 9 George Gregan N8 8 Toutai Kefu OF 7 George Smith BF 6 Owen Finegan RL 5 John Eales (c) LL 4 David Giffin TP 3 Rod Moore HK 2 Michael Foley LP 1 Nick Stiles Replacements: HK 16 Brendan Cannon PR 17 Ben Darwin LK 18 Matt Cockbain FL 19 David Lyons SH 20 Chris Whitaker FH 21 Elton Flatley FB 22 Chris Latham Coach: Rod Macqueen

FB 15 Matt Perry RW 14 Dafydd James OC 13 Brian O'Driscoll IC 12 Rob Henderson LW 11 Jason Robinson FH 10 Jonny Wilkinson SH 9 Rob Howley N8 8 Scott Quinnell OF 7 Neil Back BF 6 Richard Hill RL 5 Danny Grewcock LL 4 Martin Johnson (c) TP 3 Phil Vickery HK 2 Keith Wood LP 1 Tom Smith Replacements: PR 16 Jason Leonard HK 17 Dorian West FL 18 Martin Corry FL 19 Martyn Williams SH 20 Matt Dawson FH 21 Neil Jenkins FB 22 Iain Balshaw Coach: Graham Henry

Third test

With the series tied at 1–1, the third test at Stadium Australia in Sydney was the decider and was refereed by New Zealander Paddy O'Brien. The scoring began in the third minute, when Burke successfully kicked a penalty for Australia, giving them a 3–0 lead. Wilkinson, who was under an injury cloud leading up to the match, levelled the scores in the fifth minute with a successful penalty goal. Burke then landed another penalty goal for Australia. Four minutes later, Burke kicked another penalty goal, giving Australia a 9–3 lead. Robinson scored the first try of the match, which was converted by Wilkinson, giving the Lions a 10–9 lead. Daniel Herbert scored Australia's first try which was converted by Burke, giving Australia a 16–10 lead. Wilkinson was successful with a penalty goal that made the score 16–13.

The Lions took the lead in the second half, with Wilkinson crossing the line to score a try and then converting it, giving the Lions a 20–16 lead. Herbert scored his second try in the 49th minute, Burke converted, giving Australia a 23–20 lead. Wilkinson kicked a penalty goal, levelling scores at 23–23. Burke was successful with a subsequent penalty goal five minutes after. Burke kicked another in the 76th minute, to make the score 29–23.

14 July 2001 19:00

Australia	29–23	British & Irish Lions
Try: Herbert (2) Con: Burke (2) Pen: Burke (5)	Report	Try: Robinson Wilkinson Con: Wilkinson (2) Pen: Wilkinson (3)

Stadium Australia, Sydney Attendance: 84,188 Referee: Paddy O'Brien (New Zealand)

FB 15 Matt Burke RW 14 Andrew Walker OC 13 Daniel Herbert IC 12 Nathan Grey LW 11 Joe Roff FH 10 Elton Flatley SH 9 George Gregan N8 8 Toutai Kefu OF 7 George Smith BF 6 Owen Finegan RL 5 John Eales (c) LL 4 Justin Harrison TP 3 Rod Moore HK 2 Michael Foley LP 1 Nick Stiles Replacements: HK 16 Brendan Cannon PR 17 Ben Darwin LK 18 Matt Cockbain FL 19 David Lyons SH 20 Chris Whitaker FH 21 James Holbeck FB 22 Chris Latham Coach: Rod Macqueen

FB 15 Matt Perry RW 14 Dafydd James OC 13 Brian O'Driscoll IC 12 Rob Henderson LW 11 Jason Robinson FH 10 Jonny Wilkinson SH 9 Matt Dawson N8 8 Scott Quinnell OF 7 Neil Back BF 6 Martin Corry RL 5 Danny Grewcock LL 4 Martin Johnson (c) TP 3 Phil Vickery HK 2 Keith Wood LP 1 Tom Smith Replacements: PR 16 Darren Morris HK 17 Dorian West FL 18 Colin Charvis FL 19 Martyn Williams FH 20 Ronan O'Gara SH 21 Andy Nicol FB 22 Iain Balshaw Coach: Graham Henry

Television coverage

In Australia, Seven Network and Fox Sports jointly televised the British & Irish Lions matches. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, matches were shown on Sky Sports.

External links

• Australia 2001 on lionsrugby.com – official website
• Australia 2001 on lions-tour.com