The British and Irish Lions are chasing a famous 3-0 series victory over Australia as they head to Sydney on Saturday for the final Test of their 2025 tour, leading to many questioning whether this feat has been achieved before.
A series whitewash has always been the goal for the British and Irish Lions heading into this three match series against the Wallabies.
Several high profile pundits, experts and even players within the Lions squad have been waxing lyrical about the ambition to etch their names into British and Irish Lions folklore with a 3-0 series win, but young Henry Pollock was the first from inside the Lions camp to make the claim.
We want to come here and be the best Lions team ever. We have been talking about that loads and 3-0 is definitely on the table.
Those words from the Northampton Saints starlet were met with a significant amount of ridicule and backlash from local press Down Under, with many deeming the 20 year-old's comments to be disrespectful to an Australia side who have struggled in recent years.
To the Lions' credit they have lived up to Henry Pollock's words, without having to get out of first gear, and now sit on the precipice of history.
Until now, the Lions squad have generally avoided the talk of a whitewash however, following the successes in the first two Tests, Irish hooker Dan Sheehan has confirmed that a 3-0 series win was the target all along.
I know he (Henry Pollock) got a bit of heat for that but it was obviously the goal of the whole tour to make sure we did come away with a 3-0 win.
As the Lions stand on the cusp of completing a remarkable achievement, the debate will rage on regarding where this side rank among the best to have donned the famous red jerseys.
With that in mind, let's find out how many Lions sides have completed a Series whitewash before...
Have the Lions ever completed a series whitewash before?
In short, yes, but the answer is a lot more complicated than that.
The last whitewash officially claimed by the Lions was in 1927, where the Lions completed a 4-0 series clean sweep over Argentina.
Even the famous 1974 "Invincibles" were unable to replicate this feat, controversially drawing their fourth and final Test against the Springboks to win the series 3-1-0.
There have been clean sweeps of sorts since 1927, with the 1950, 1959 and 1966 tours all including 2-0 series victories over the Wallabies, however the Lions don't claim these as whitewashes due to losing subsequent Tests to the All Blacks as part of the same tour.
The last official series whitewash against Australia came in 1904, with the Lions defeating the Wallabies 3-0 over the course of the series.
Prior to the 1904 success, the Lions had only ever secured a series whitewash once before, on their first ever tour which took place in South Africa in 1891 - emerging victorious 3-0 in the series winning 0-4, 0-3 and 0-4 in the three Tests.
There is history on the line for Andy Farrell's class of 2025 however - they can become the first Lions team to win every one of their games on a single tour, taking the crown from the famous 1974 "Invincibles".
This may however come with some dispute, following the Lions defeat in their first warm up match against Argentina in Dublin.
Despite those doubts and the frailties throughout the tour as a whole, there is no doubting that this British and Irish Lions side can immortalise themselves forever into rugby history with victory on Saturday.
