Tour openers by numbers

The British and Irish Lions are deep into their preparation for the Test series against New Zealand, with four matches now under their belt.

The first Test takes place on June 24 at Eden Park and history suggests it will be difficult for the losing team to bounce back.

Here, Press Association Sport takes a look back at how the opening match has shaped past Lions series.

There have been 28 previous Lions Tours on which official Tests were played, and 33 series in all – on five occasions, the Lions visited Australia and New Zealand in combined tours.

The result of the first Test has matched that of the series on all but eight occasions.

Three of those exceptions came when the first Test was drawn – against South Africa in 1903, New Zealand in 1950 and the Proteas again in 1962.

Only twice in the last 87 years has a team lost the opener and recovered to win the series – Australia in 2001, after the Lions won the opener 29-13, and the Lions themselves after losing the first Test 30-12 on their previous encounter with the Wallabies in 1989. Ieuan Evans’ try and five Gavin Hastings penalties earned a 19-18 win in the decider.

Before that, the most recent occasion was in 1930 when the Lions opened with a 6-3 win over the All Blacks but lost the fourmatch series 3-1.

The 1989 series was the first time in 90 years that the Lions had won a series after falling behind – they overcame an opening 13-3 loss to beat Australia 3-1 in 1899.

The only drawn series occurred in 1962 in South Africa, when the Lions opened with a 23-22 win but had to share the series 2-2.

The Lions’ record also includes the inaugural 1888 tour to New Zealand and Australia, which featured no Tests and several games of Australian rules football, and a home defeat to a Rest of the World XV in 1986.