Leinster Rugby have set the record for the most number of players from one team to be called up for the British & Irish Lions.

Ahead of the Tour, the province had already set a new record with 12 players named by Andy Farrell in his initial 38 player squad, before Tom Clarkson and Jamie Osbourne’s late arrival Down Under pushed that number to an all-time high of 14.

Sir Clive Woodward initially set a record in 2005 when he picked eight players from Leicester Tigers to tour New Zealand.

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Four years later Sir Ian McGeechan selected nine players from Munster to tour South Africa and in that same squad the legendary coach picked eight players from Ospreys to come along for the ride.

It is a far cry from 1983 when Jim Telfer set a record of four players from Pontypool.

In total players have been selected by the Lions from 128 clubs. But as the professional era has taken hold, where the lucky few lucky enough to don the famous red jersey come from has shrunk.

Last weekend in Brisbane a new record was set for the most players from one club to represent the Lions in a Test.

Yes, you have guessed it, they all came from Leinster.

All of Hugo Keenan, James Lowe, Jamison Gibson-Park, Jack Conan, Joe McCarthy, Tadhg Furlong, Dan Sheehan, Rónan Kelleher and Andrew Porter suited up for the tourists.

There are nine Leinstermen in action again in the second Test as James Ryan takes a place on the bench with Joe McCarthy out injured and England’s Ollie Chessum getting the starting nod.

It has been some years since this record was last broken.

On the most recent tours of South Africa and New Zealand, Saracens and Leinster have totalled four players in the Test squad.

What was the previous record in a Test?

In the modern era it was Sir Ian McGeechan that set the record in 2009 when he used five Ospreys in every South Africa Test match.

That season the Welsh province had finished fourth in the Celtic League and were quarter finalists in the Heineken Cup, and had an array of world class talent at their disposal.

Lee Byrne, Tommy Bowe, Mike Phillips, Alun Wyn Jones, Adam Jones, Shane Williams and James Hook were all involved in the 2-1 series loss to their hosts.

Only Tommy Bowe and Mike Phillips retained starting slots throughout as the pair concluded the best individual campaigns of their career.

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Subdued by South Africa in the opening two Tests, it was only at Ellis Park Stadium that the Lions finally had something to cheer about.

Shane Williams scored a brace that afternoon in Johannesburg, while a solo score for Ugo Monye and the kicking of Stephen Jones helped to wrap up a 28-9 win that ultimately meant little in the broader picture.

You then look all the way back to 2005 and when five Leicester Tigers stars were utilised by Sir Clive Woodward in the first Test against the All Blacks. That afternoon in Christchurch, Martin Corry, Neil Back, Ben Kay, Julian White and Graham Rowntree were the men in the firing line as New Zealand ran out 21-3 winners.

Prior to that the record had stood at just four players from the same club in a Lions Test squad.

In 2021 four Saracens were used in the first and second Tests, while in 2017’s first Test four players came from Saracens and four more from Leinster.

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