GB played as England for the early decades of the game.

Changed to GB as more Welshmen got into the side and then a few Scots.

I've no issue with it if they had the British Isles badge. The Lion wasn't on the shirt until the 70s anyway.

What are you talking about? We're talking about a sports team that seemingly wants to call itself British and Irish Lions (or Great Britain and Irish Lions - I've seen both written recently) but then doesn't want to do very much to represent the Irishness of the team. It's supposed to be two nations coming together as one on an equal basis. Or four nations as one, if you take the view like the British Isles XIII badge does that it's England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland coming together. Either way, everyone is supposed to be equal.

If that's not the aim, then drop the charade about it being a British and Irish Lions, and let's just call it Great Britain and select players from England, Scotland and Wales and take the British Isles III badge off the shirt.

Having done that though, I would then argue that we should be playing as GB all the time.

So after all that you do agree with me. Cool.

Would this kit please you?

Would look great without the green

If you're playing as the British and Irish Lions, having some green on the kit makes perfect sense. After all, it's not a national team - it's a team representing two nations, so you want to be as representative of those two nations as possible. The shirt needs the British Isles XIII badge too.

But the Lion is always associated with England and Scotland.

It has to be Great Britain only and leave Ireland out of it. That way GB could become as Team GB is at the Olympics - it would be the team that represents the UK. It would be our national team, so we can use the UK flag, play God Save the Queen, and not have to worry about the sensitivities that come with including Ireland in the team.
People from Northern Ireland could do as they do with the Olympics, and decide whether to support or play for either Great Britain or Ireland. Their choice.

Secondly, I'd also play as GB at the World Cup to keep things consistent.
It's not helpful to Scotland or Ireland if they remain standalone with the fact that there is no domestic comp in either places, perhaps Ireland more so and certainly no interest! Wales has some structure and can get a decent crowd for matches played in the Principality. Wales being the 'original' British anyway is quite relevant!

Why has there never been a professional game between Scotland and England played in the past 30 years in Scotland? They have enough stadiums. Because nobody is interested. Same with Ireland to a lesser extent.

Great Britain covers all that and still represents a UNITED nation where people from either Celtic, Norman, Norse or Anglo ancestry can UNITE as one just as other nations do! No British, and especially English citizen can claim to be 100% pure Anglo-Saxon!! Impossible!

Surely you're not claiming that the Welsh, Scots and Irish are 100% Celtic are you?

Well are they Anglo-Saxon? Did you not see the word Norse? Have you studied British history?

It's an either or for me on the countries.
If you call it the Lions Tour like in RU you can include Ireland.
If its Great Britain..... Its Great Britain.... Which doesn't include Ireland.

I agree though. GB for me.

On the World Cup its England for me.
I think it does benefit the other nations and it also makes the tour unique and special.

The tour would be special if there were three or more Welsh and three or more Scottish players in the GB starting XIII. Then it would be like the rugby union Lions, minus the Irish, who you prefer not to include.

I don't see what is special about having thirteen players who would normally play for England, putting on a different shirt and announcing themselves as GB.

Just play as England, the team is going to be exactly the same as the England team, utterly pointless to call them anything else.

Having thought about this, it should just be Great Britain, I agree.