1899 British Lions tour to Australia

1899 British Lions tour to Australia
The touring British team
Date	14 June – 19 August
Coach(es)	Matthew Mullineux
Tour captain(s)	Matthew Mullineux Frank Stout
Test series winners	British and Irish Lions (1–3)
Top test point scorer(s)	Charlie Adamson (17)
← South Africa 1896 South Africa 1903 →

1899 British Lions tour to Australia
Summary	P W D L
Total	21 18 00 03
Test match	04 03 00 01
Opponent	P W D L
Australia	4 3 0 1

The 1899 British Isles tour to Australia was the fourth rugby union tour by a British Isles team and the second to Australia; though the first tour in 1888 was a private venture, making the 1899 tour the first official undertaking of Australia. It is retrospectively classed as one of the British Lions tours, as the Lions naming convention was not adopted until 1950.

Negotiations had also taken place for the tour to incorporate matches against New Zealand, either through a visit to New Zealand, or a New Zealand team to play in Australia. No agreeable terms could be found.

This tour was the first to truly represent the British Isles, with players from all four Home Nations. Despite this fact, many Australian newspapers, and some British dailies, referred to the tourists as "the English football team".^[1]