England's RL Seddon was the first Lions captain, leading them to Australia and New Zealand in 1888.

Four successive Lions tours between 1938 and 1959 were captained by Irishmen Sam Walker, Dr Karl Mullen, Robin Thompson and Ronnie Dawson.

England's Martin Johnson became the first player to captain successive Lions tours, leading the tourists in 1997 (South Africa) and Australia (2001).

Phil Bennett was the last Welshman to captain the Lions – 32 years ago inNew Zealand.

The first Scottish Lions captain was Bill Maclagan (South Africa 1891).

The first Welsh Lions captain was Boxer Harding (Australia and New Zealand1908).

The first Irish Lions captain was Tom Smyth (South Africa 1910).

The last player to captain a Lions Test series victory was Martin Johnson(South Africa 1997).

The 12 previous Lions tours to South Africa have seen the captaincy honour go to Ireland (five times), England (four) and Scotland (three).

Only two backs have been named official Lions tour captains in the past 30years – Gavin Hastings and Brian O'Driscoll.