Lions Raw – the behind-the-scenes documentary of this summer’s successful tour of Australia – is released later this month, and it is the latest chapter to chronicle the highs and the lows of the Lions on tour.
It's directed by Ben Uttley, son of 1974 Lions legend Roger, who has reduced more than 300 hours of footage, as well as Sky Sports' live coverage, into three hours of spell-binding footage.
But perhaps it is the documentary – Living With Lions – that serves as the benchmark for all subsequent tour chronicles.
Living With Lions documents the successful trip to South Africa in 1997, focusing on the backroom team effort of Sir Ian McGeechan’s touring party and it features Jim Telfer’s iconic Everest speech.
The original only went up to the end of the second Test but due to its success, a follow-up – Living With Lions 2 – The Final Week – was produced.
Four years later came a trip to Australia – an agonising 2-1 series defeat – after taking a 1-0 lead, and the tour was captured on Lions 2001 – Up Close and Personal.
Released in 2002 it was received as the most intimate, blow-by-blow account of life on the Lions tour ever seen.
In 2005, Sir Clive Woodward led the Lions, looking to become only the second ever group to secure victory in New Zealand.
The task was a massive one and Inside the Lions Den revealed the passion and the pride of the touring party as they battled in vain to achieve an almost impossible dream.
Then came another heart-breaking near-miss, the tour to South Africa in 2009 with McGeechan again at the helm.
The DVD had plenty to live up to as the first to feature a series against the Springboks since Living With Lions, but Living With the Pride featured unprecedented access to all areas of the Tour, and was billed as the most honest and intense portrait of life as a Lion ever produced.
Now Lions Raw becomes the first documentary since Living With Lions to chronicle a successful tour, pulling back the curtain on the this summer's triumph, it reveals all the key behind-the-scenes moments, capturing the forfeits, the fines, the blood-curdling speeches, the difficult decisions and above all, the glory of success.
For anyone who enjoyed Living With Lions or any of the subsequent documentaries, Lions Raw is not to be missed.
The 2-disc DVD release of Lions Raw is on October 28, and features three hours of footage and can be pre-ordered at Amazon by clicking here.
