Some 10,000 miles away from Dublin, where they kicked off the 1888 Cup, The British & Irish Lions were able to savour a job well done in Sydney on Saturday night.

Over the course of 10 matches on the Qatar Airways Lions Men’s Series 2025, the best of the best from the four home unions came together under Andy Farrell and his coaching team to claim a first Test series victory in 12 years.

Four years on from a Tour played behind closed doors because of Covid, the Sea of Red was back out in force in the country where that term was first coined.

As with every Lions Tour, this squad was a mixture of the vastly experienced and the total newcomers. For 20-year-old Henry Pollock, an earliest Lions memory of 2017 in New Zealand was four years after future teammate Owen Farrell had made his own Lions debut.

The pair have emerged into very different eras of professional rugby but are now united by a bond that only those who have worn that famous red jersey can understand.

When this squad looks back on their achievements in years to come – potentially at a reunion in 12 years, as is being mooted – there will be some special moments that live long in the memory.

Chief among them will be Hugo Keenan’s match-winning, series-clinching try in front of 90,307 supporters at the MCG.

That effort will go down with Jerry Guscott’s 1997 drop goal against the Springboks as one of the most influential in the history of the Lions.

But it was far from the only highlight.

For Argentinian fans, Los Pumas getting a first win over the Lions, two decades on from a draw in Cardiff, will rank among the greatest achievements of Felipe Contepomi’s remarkable career as a player and then a coach.

Upon arrival on Australian shores, the Lions wasted no time at all in showing what they can do. In that opening game against the Western Force in Perth, Dan Sheehan did what Dan Sheehan does with a try after just a minute.

That day was not short of drama. Tomos Williams scored twice and looked to be making a case for a Test spot before injury cut short his Tour – a sad reality of any Lions experience but particularly cruel on the Wales scrum-half.

Mack Hansen, playing against Darcy Swain, alongside whom he had once been promoted to the Brumbies set-up, made perhaps the biggest contribution that day with a chase back, clearing kick and then a brilliant pursuit to force a knock-on.

For all the intricate phase play and powerful scrummaging, it was that relentless work-rate that was the biggest mark of this team – little wonder with Andy Farrell at the helm.

It may well have been the difference between defeat and victory in the second Test.

Keenan deservedly took the plaudits for his last-gasp try, but it might have counted for nothing if not for Tom Curry.

The England flanker, who vindicated selection for the first Test with a try and a brilliant assist for Sheehan, made an even more telling contribution in the second.

With the Wallabies leading by nine, Langi Gleeson and Fraser McReight combined to get in behind the Lions. As the ball was shifted to Joseph Sua’ali’i, one more wide pass would have put Tate McDermott over.

Instead, Curry had raced back from halfway and put in a thumping tackle from behind to force the knock-on from the cross-code superstar and allow the Lions to breathe.

We will never know if they would have come back without that tackle but it would have been a monumental ask.

That 29-26 second Test victory will go down as one of the all-time great Lions encounters, the bench swinging it in favour of the tourists as Ellis Genge enjoyed yet another stellar showing.

The England prop quickly endeared himself to his teammates in the squad, with Sheehan one of the first to admit he had to change his mind on a fearsome opponent turned colleague.

Genge was a key contributor in the first Test too, won 27-19 by the Lions in Brisbane – the highlight arguably Finn Russell’s gorgeous miss-pass to put Sione Tuipulotu over for the first try.

Fresh from the best season of his career, leading Bath to a treble, Russell has stamped his class all over this Lions Tour, starting all three Tests at fly-half.

His combination with Jamison Gibson-Park was one of the success stories of the Tour, with Russell playing all but 14 minutes of the Test series.

Only Keenan and Tadhg Beirne – who both played every minute – managed more than Russell. Had it not been for injury early in the third Test, skipper Maro Itoje would surely have joined the Irish duo among the ever-presents in the Test series.

With no Itoje, as well as a backline reshuffle following Tommy Freeman’s injury, the Lions could not prevent a Wallabies success to finish the Tour, a lightning delay and torrential downpour not dampening the spirits of the home side as they finished on a high with a 22-12 success.

That denied this Lions squad an unbeaten Australian odyssey. The dreams of 3-0 evaporated but the disappointment of that final loss will fade much quicker than the memories of the experience of a lifetime.

The Sea of Red on the ground will certainly not forget this trip, especially those lucky enough to have been in attendance at the MCG.

That day was a reminder of just how special the Lions can be, nearly 140 years since the first group of intrepid explorers set sail for the southern hemisphere.

The travel these days is quicker, the rugby is almost unrecognisable but the concept remains the same.

Let’s do it all again in four years’ time. But first, here is to the class of 2025!