Outside of representing the Barbarians, only two players have ever played for and against the British and Irish Lions. In 2025 – barring injury – Ireland’s James Lowe will create history in becoming the third.
In 1955, Irishman Tom Reid represented the Lions in two Tests vs South Africa and then played against the 1959 Lions for Eastern Canada in Toronto following their tour of Australia and New Zealand.
Some 55 years later, England centre Riki Flutey repeated the feat: starting the third Test for the Lions against the Springboks in 2009, having faced the Lions for Wellington in New Zealand four years previously.
Back in 2017, a 24-year-old Lowe started for the Maori All Blacks as they suffered a 32-10 defeat to the Lions in Rotorua. Eight years and 40 Irish caps later, Lowe has been selected to become a 2025 British and Irish Lion on their tour to Australia.
“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind,” Lowe told Sky Sports. “I was a bag of nerves [during the announcement], my top was over my eyes as it came closer alphabetically. It was a funny emotion but I was ecstatic. I’m very, very honoured.
Players to have played for and against the British and Irish Lions
Tom Reid (Ireland): Played for Lions vs SA in 1955; Played against Lions for Eastern Canada in 1959
Riki Flutey (England): Played against Lions for Wellington in 2005; Played for Lions vs SA in 2009
James Lowe (Ireland): Played against Lions for Maori All Blacks in 2017; To play for Lions in Aus in 2025?
*James Hook, Jared Payne, Elliot Daly all played against the Lions for the Barbarians in 2013. Hook was a Lion in 2009, Payne and Daly would become Lions in 2017.
“I grew up in New Zealand and my mother is Maori, so I qualified for the Maori All Blacks. I was lucky enough to play against the Lions in 2017. I didn’t quite understand the enormity of what it meant to be a Lion at the time.
“I’d just signed with Leinster a couple of months beforehand [for the start of the next season] and was looking at the 40-man squad and saw there were a lot of boys I’d soon be playing with in that team. The likes of Tadhg Furlong – I couldn’t even pronounce his name at the start, and was too scared to say! – Johnny Sexton, Sean O’Brien, Jack McGrath.
“To be honest, it was probably the Lions’ first actual test over there, it was before their first Test against New Zealand and I think they would probably say they hadn’t really performed up until that game.
“We went into the game thinking it could be alright. We had Nehe Milner-Scudder on one wing, Rieko Ioane on the left and I was playing full-back. We looked at our chances thinking we could do it, but the intensity from the first kick-off was so hard to describe.
“It was my first proper introduction to Test match rugby and what it actually meant for them to be a Lion, and they just suffocated us that evening.
“It was a wet night, it was Test match rugby. They were plugging corners, Conor Murray was putting box-kicks on top of me. I was there for fair-weather rugby, I wanted to run the ball around and play touch, but then you’d have Sean O’Brien chasing you down.
“It was something very memorable. I actually got Leigh Halfpenny’s jersey, we swapped after the game.”
Having joined Leinster later that summer in 2017, three years later Lowe was eligible for Ireland under World Rugby residency laws at the time – since changed to five years.
The powerful winger has gone on to make a name for himself in the sport as one of the finest finishers around, picking up Six Nations titles in 2023 and 2024, in addition to further Triple Crowns in 2022 and 2025 and a stunning 2-1 series victory over the All Blacks in New Zealand in 2022.
Yet, when making the move to Ireland eight years ago, Lowe says he never thought about the Lions or the possibility of ever potentially becoming one.
“Not one bit, genuinely,” he says.
“When I got the contract offer from Leinster, I was up in limbo with New Zealand rugby, I hadn’t made the New Zealand team. This opportunity came, a three-year deal at the end of which, in the back of my mind, I thought I could maybe represent Ireland. But that is not the reason I signed.
“It was an awesome opportunity for myself and my wife to come over to this side of the world, get away from the safety net of family and friends and engrain ourselves in a brand-new culture.
“Becoming a Lion is obviously amazing but it’s a byproduct of a lot of little things that happened along the way. It’s a bit of a full-circle moment and here we are.”
On the 2025 tour of Australia, Lowe will battle for a Test place in the back three with the likes of England’s Tommy Freeman and Elliot Daly, Scotland’s Duhan van der Merwe and Irish colleague Mack Hansen.
The 32-year-old repeats the word ‘honour’ when asked for his thoughts ahead of the tour.
“I’m looking forward to getting in at the deep end. To be given the honour to leave the jersey in a better place is something I will cherish for a very long time.
“I want to go over there and represent this crest on the chest with as much pride and enthusiasm as I can bring.
“If I get the opportunity to represent myself and the people who have come before us to the best of my ability and leave the jersey in a better place that is all you can ask for as a rugby player.”
Sky Sports will exclusively show the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, with all three Tests against the Wallabies and six warm-up matches to be shown exclusively live.
