All eyes will turn to Eden Park in New Zealand on the 24th June, as the British and Irish Lions (England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland combined) will look to summit the Mount Everest of world rugby, the unstoppable juggernauts- the All Blacks in the first of three much anticipated test matches.

Yes, England equaled their world record of 18 consecutive victories and the Irish showed us in that memorable game at Soldier Field that the All Blacks can be defeated.

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So, there is hope that the Lions can pull of the impossible going into the first test against the number one team in world rugby, reigning world champions and undisputed kings of field.

There is no doubt that, yes, the Lions will be able to call on their pivots Owen Farrell, Jonathan Sexton, their inspirational leader Sam Warburton and the talented Leigh Halfpenny to get the job done.

Will it be enough to overcome a team who since winning the rugby world cup in 2011 only tasted defeat 4 times, won back to back world titles and have the best player in world rugby coming from their team since 2012?

There is talent in Lions team; tremendous talent but it is very hard to see the Lions overcoming this mountain of a team that includes the likes of world player of the year Beauden Barrett, the skillful Sonny Bill Williams and the destructive Julian Savea.

Since 1904 the British and Irish Lions have toured to the Land of the Long White Cloud, New Zealand 11 times in the past and the Lions have won only one of the 11 previous tours.

That one and only tour victory dates back to 1971 when the Lions won a four match test series 2-1.

There is no doubt that the Lions are still licking their wounds since 2003 when they were lashed by an unbelievable Daniel Carter and whitewashed three nil by All Blacks in the series. So they will have nothing but sweet revenge on their minds come Saturday.

-Leland Edwards

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