Page "British and Irish Lions" Paragraph 7

In 1888, the promoter of the first expedition to Australia and New Zealand, Arthur Shrewsbury, demanded " something that would be good material and yet take them by storm out here ".

The result was a jersey in thick red, white and blue hoops, worn above white shorts and dark socks.

The tours to South Africa in 1891 and 1896 retained the red, white and blue theme but this time as red and white hooped jerseys and dark blue shorts and socks.

The 1899 trip to Australia saw a reversion to red, white and blue jerseys, but with the blue used in thick hoops and the red and white in thin bands.

The shorts remained blue, as did the socks although a white flash was added to the latter.

The one-off test in 1999 between England and Australia that was played to commemorate Australia's first test against Reverend Matthew Mullineux's British side saw England wear an updated version of this jersey.

In 1903, the South Africa tour followed on from the 1896 tour, with red and white hooped jerseys.

The slight differences were that the red hoops were slightly thicker than the white ( the opposite was true in 1896 ), and the white flash on the socks introduced in 1899 was partially retained.

The Australia of 1904 saw exactly the same kit as in 1899, and it seemed that the British touring sides had settled on kits particular to the host destination.

However, in 1908 with the Scottish and Irish unions refusing to be involved, the Anglo-Welsh side only sported red jerseys with a thick white band on their jerseys on tour to Australia and New Zealand.

Blue shorts were retained, but the socks were for the first time red, with a white flash.