The debate over squad selection, the injuries and replacements, the humidity of Hong Kong and the long list of warm up games across Australia – it's all over now, relegated to the footnotes of this tour as as we’re on the verge of the first test between the Lions and Australia, at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.

If a Lions tour needed anything extra to draw us in, this one has provided it. Australian rugby is in a bad state, and a big series performance against the tourists would go a long way to saving the game Down Under. For the Lions, the usual pressures apply, along with the knowledge that they haven’t won a series since 1997 and will be travelling to New Zealand in four years’ time. Can the Lions go from 97 to 2021 without a series win?

Matt Williams will be live tweeting from the game on the @OfftheBallNT twitter account so if you can’t get to a TV you can keep up to date with the latest developments through Matt’s excellent commentary/analysis.

To whet the appetite, here are some reminders of the last Lions trip to Oz, the 2001 series which began with a Brian O’Driscoll inspired win, but ended with a 2-1 defeat.

O’Driscoll’s try in the first test of 2001

The 2001 Australian team remember the series

And the most infamous moment of the 2001 series, Duncan McRae’s attack on Ronan O’Gara in the Lions V Waratahs game

The reaction of Graham Henry, Lions coach, and Bob Dwyer, Waratahs coach, to the game

Here's how the Lions got on in their battles with the provincial sides, in the build up to the test series

And