The Lions were originally a representative team of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, but players from the Irish Free State remained eligible after it left the U.K. in 1922.
The Power of Four was commissioned by Sir Clive Woodward for the 2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand and was written by Neil Myers.
[6] It was first performed live by Welsh singer Katherine Jenkins before the British & Irish Lions rugby union match against Argentina at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales in 2005.
[14] It was also suggested that due to a perceived selection bias towards English members of the Lions, that Land of Hope and Glory should be used instead of "Power".
In July 2005, following the Lions tour, a journalist on the BBC Sport website, James Standley, commented that "Power" is "hollow and disliked by fans.
"[20] The words of "Power" were also compared to be similar to the New Zealand Māori rugby union team's "Timatanga" haka in The Telegraph.
[21] The anthem did not return for the 2009 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa, which received a positive reaction from Sky Sports reporters.
[25] During the 2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia, ESPN jokingly suggested that The Power of Four would be remixed into a hip hop song for the third test by Pharrell Williams and would be performed by Snoop Dogg.