Halfpenny, 37, is hanging up his boots following a farewell season back in Wales with Cardiff Rugby, while North has been with French club Provence since 2024.
And for all their immeasurable achievements in the game, the Lions faithful will always associate the duo with a glorious Tour.
Halfpenny remembers 2013 like it was yesterday. It has now been 13 years since the full-back was crowned Player of the Series Down Under, when the tourists claimed the deciding third Test 41-16 in Sydney.
The first two Tests had gone down to the wire, with Kurtley Beale missing a penalty to win the first before Halfpenny was off-target in similar fashion in the second.
But despite being close for an hour, the Lions were able to stretch clear in the decider, giving Halfpenny the rare opportunity to stand back and appreciate just what they had achieved.
He recalls: “It feels like it’s gone pretty quickly. It doesn’t feel like that long ago that we were in Australia. Coming away with a series win was pretty special.
“It was incredible, the support we had and the fans we had on that Tour. You would look around and see the Sea of Red. That is the special thing about the Lions, all four countries coming together as one.
“It’s not often in a Test match that you have an opportunity to have a look around but I think in that third Test, there was an opportunity towards the end to look around and take it all in. It was an incredible feeling to have won that series. To go down there and achieve that with such a special group of people was amazing.
“My family came over and a few friends from back home. To see them after the game and on the Sunday and share it with them amongst all the players was pretty special.”
That Tour was Halfpenny’s second with the Lions, having previously been a surprise inclusion for the 2009 Tour to South Africa at just 20 years of age.
It fulfilled a lifelong ambition for the Welshman, who had come through the ranks at Gorseinon.
“It was a privilege and an honour to represent the Lions, something that I dreamt of as a kid,” said Halfpenny, speaking at an event hosted by LooseHeadz, an Official Charity Partner of The Lions Trust.
“The DVDs the Lions put out, the 2001 Tour to Australia was one that I watched over and over as a kid.
“To have been selected for 2009 was beyond my wildest dreams. I’d never expected it, it was a huge honour, a really proud moment.
“On reflection, I never expected it at the beginning of that season. To ride up to Pennyhill Park and look at the squad, to be surrounded by so many incredible players, players I had watched growing up, I was pretty starstruck to be honest.
“From 2001 growing up and watching that Tour in Australia, watching Brian O’Driscoll. He was phenomenal so to meet him was great, I was pretty starstruck. But it gave me a taste of the Lions and how special it was and what it really meant.”
Four years on, Halfpenny had established himself as one of the key members of a Wales team that won back-to-back Six Nations titles, finishing as the top points scorer in the tournament as they won the Grand Slam in 2012.
He again finished top of the points charts in 2013, kicking four penalties in the 30-3 win over England that swung the title Wales’s way, with a number of Lions selections no doubt influenced by that match.
While his inclusion in 2009 was relatively unexpected, by 2013, Halfpenny went into the Tour as a possible Test starter, even if he never saw it that way.
“You never assume or take it for granted,” he said. “The competition on the Tours is phenomenal, you’ve got the best from each country so it’s just about taking each game at a time. When you get the opportunity to play and wear the jersey, you want to do the jersey proud and do it justice.
“To be involved in Test matches was very special. When they read out the team for the Test, I couldn’t believe it to be honest. It’s something you dream of as a kid. I called my family straightaway to tell them the news.
“I’ve always had the nerves before games. That was no different. You try to use it in the right way, channel it and use it help your performance. But I was pretty nervous running out. To have the responsibility of goal-kicking was huge for me. I feel very fortunate to have had Neil Jenkins coaching me from a young age and having him on the Tour was pretty special.”
Once he arrived in Australia, Halfpenny made an immediate impression, making 11 shots at goal out of 11 in a 24-point haul against the Western Force in the first game on Australian soil.
Selection for the Tests was vindicated as Halfpenny kicked 13 points in the opening 23-21 win in Brisbane, while he scored all the Lions points in the 17-15 second Test defeat in Melbourne – with a final kick from more than 50 metres out to clinch the series falling just short.
That only served to make the final Test victory sweeter, with three tries in 10 second-half minutes taking the game away from the Wallabies, and allowing Halfpenny to bask in the success.
He said: “As a kid growing up, dreaming about playing for Wales and the Lions. To have been given that opportunity, I’m hugely grateful.
“It was tight for a long period of that third Test. You’ve just got to try to stay in the fight and focus on your next job and not think too far ahead. We had incredible leaders running the game.
“We were able to score a few good tries which took the game out of reach for Australia. It was pretty tense for a lot of the game, so to be able to pull away towards the end, it was just relief. There was elation to have won a series with an incredible group of people, staff, players, off-field. To celebrate with those people on the field was special.”
His compatriot North was one of those joining him in celebrations following a Tour which etched the wing’s name into Lions folklore.
Whether it was his tries in the first and third Tests or his iconic tackle on Israel Folau a week later, North was one of the key figures in the series triumph.
Perhaps it was no surprise given the way he burst on to the scene. When selected to play against South Africa in 2010, North became the joint-third youngest player to play for Wales while his pair of tries made him the youngest debutant scorer in his country’s history.
North had produced some blistering form for Scarlets earlier that season and carried that with him to a cacophonous atmosphere in Cardiff. South Africa narrowly came out on top but North had announced himself as a star-in-the-making, outshining opposite man and former World Rugby Player of the Year Bryan Habana.
North established himself as a starter during the 2011 Rugby World Cup and was an ever-present as Wales won back-to-back Six Nations crowns for the first time in 34 years. He scored a late try as Wales beat Ireland 23–21 for a crucial win en route to a Grand Slam in 2012 and then played every minute of the 2013 Six Nations.
There, he was again integral to Wales’ success, scoring the only try of the game in a nerve-shredding 16-6 victory in France. From there, he was an absolute dead cert for Warren Gatland's British & Irish Lions squad to Australia.
North’s contribution to a first Lions series win for 16 years cannot be overstated. He scored a stunning try in the first Test, finished off another in the third and was involved in one of the most watched moments from any British & Irish Lions Tour in the second.
With the Lions in need of some inspiration when trailing early in the first Test, 21-year-old North provided an almighty spark.
The wing fielded a clearance kick before stepping and fending his way past several gold jerseys to slide into the corner for a glorious solo score, setting the Lions on their way to a series lead.
He provided another memorable moment in the Melbourne-staged second Test with his fireman’s lift on opposite number Folau in a remarkable demonstration of strength and courage.
North then rounded off a fairytale start to his Lions career with a try in the series-deciding third Test win in Sydney.
Due to a couple of untimely injuries, North was never seen again in the Lions Test arena. He did, however, play three fixtures on the 2017 Tour to New Zealand and scored in the tense 31-all draw against the Hurricanes but was subsequently forced to return home after tearing his hamstring.
While that was to be his final appearance in the red of the Lions, North continued to be a key man for Wales, both on the wing and latterly in the midfield.
Perhaps most memorably, Wales started their 2019 Six Nations campaign with a Friday night encounter in Paris, and it looked bleak for the visitors when they trailed 16-0 at half-time. As only he could do, North single-handedly swung the momentum of the tie.
He pounced on a defensive error by France wing Yoann Huget to touch down and put Wales back in contention before intercepting lock Sebastien Vahaamahina’s pass to speed away for the match-winning try which completed Wales’ greatest ever comeback.
North's exploits gave Warren Gatland's side a huge shot in the arm and they went on to win the Six Nations title and Grand Slam.
He was then ruled out of the 2021 Tour to South Africa after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament while playing for Ospreys.
It was desperately bad luck after North had played a key role in Wales winning a fourth Six Nations title of his career in 2021, this time featuring largely as a centre. During the Round 3 victory against England, he became the youngest player to earn 100 caps for Wales.
Then on Super Saturday in 2023 he etched his name further into Welsh rugby’s history books, taking his tally of Championship tries to 23 – the most by any Welshman in the competition.
He calls time on a career as his country’s third most capped player and second highest try-scorer and will always be remembered as a great finisher capable of the sublime whether in Wales or Lions red.
