Lions awards: Jonathan Davies, Brodie Rettallick, Sean O'Brien all feature

Image: Opposing captains Kieran Read of the All Blacks and Sam Warburton of the Lions lift the trophy following the series draw

The British and Irish Lions held New Zealand to a Test series draw in a highly entertaining 2017 tour.

The tour produced it all - from brilliant rugby on the field to the those 'circus' antics off - and showed why a Lions tour is the pinnacle for players and fans alike.

We have trawled through all the highs and lows of the tour and brought you our British and Irish Lions awards for 2017.

Best Lions player: Jonathan Davies

Scarlets and Wales centre Jonathan Davies has been voted the British and Irish Lions' players' player of the tour of New Zealand

Had stiff competition from the likes of Sean O'Brien, Maro Itoje and Tadhg Furlong but Davies deservedly won Lions player of the series and brought a real attacking edge to the tourists.

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His defence was also excellent and he kept the All Blacks on their toes with some clever tactical kicking as well.

Best New Zealand player: Brodie Retallick

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Image: Brodie Retallick was our top All Blacks player

Again plenty of contenders including Sam Cane and All Blacks skipper Kieran Read, however, Retallick seems to have it all. A massive engine, brilliant hands and a desire to always make an impact be it in the ruck and maul or carrying the ball.

Best Game: New Zealand 15-15 Lions

Highlights of New Zealand against the British and Irish Lions at Eden Park in the third Test

Plenty of great games including all three Test - for different reasons. The Highlanders game in Dunedin was also good but the third Test gets our vote.This had it all - except a result!

Best Tackle: Taulupe Faletau

A few people offered up Sonny Bill Williams' effort in the second Test that resulted in a red card for him, but we are not buying that.

Read's bone cruncher on Owen Farrell in the first Test is definitely up there but in the end we went with Taulupe Faletau's try-saving effort in the very first game against the NZ Baa-baas.

The provincial side scored a first-half try through Sam Anderson-Heather and should have had another before half-time. They made a lovely break and centre Kaveinga Finau looked certain to go over but Faletau scrambled back to make the try-saving tackle and prevent the tour from going off the rails at the start.

Best Try: Sean O'Brien

Watch this brilliant try from Sean O'Brien during the first Test between New Zealand and the British and Irish Lions.

The Ireland flanker finished off a sweeping move in the first Test which was started by Liam Williams from inside the Lions' 22-metre area, with Elliot Daly and Jonathan Davies then linking up to put O'Brien over.

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen lauded the score when interviewed by Sky Sports after the game.

"The first try they scored should go down in the annuls as one of the best tries scored in Test rugby," said the New Zealand coach. "They'll be proud of that, and they'll look to do more of it."

Best Haka

Maori All Blacks haka v British and Irish Lions

We love the haka and the Maori All Blacks certainly pulled out all the stops when they threw their challenge down. The game was billed as the fourth Test but the Lions produced a powerful performance to win 32-10.

Best quote

Warren Gatland wore a clown nose when he arrived for his post-match press conference after the Lions' third Test in New Zealand

'Clowngate' certainly kept us amused and we loved Gatland's reaction after the second Test with his 'I'm a happy clown' quip and turning up to the third Test post-match press conference with a clown's nose on.

However, Kieran Read's post -match interview after the drawn Test gave a interesting insight into the All Blacks' psyche

When asked about that penalty, Read said: "In my view it is a penalty and I think he ruled it correctly from the start, I guess when you bring in replays, and everything, you will get different decisions.

"That was not why we lost the game, it was an accumulation of everything throughout the game."

We look forward to seeing how the All Blacks react to that 'loss' in their next game when they travel to Sydney to take on Australia on 19 August in the opening game of the Rugby Championship.

Biggest controversy

Image: Sam Warburton and Kieran Read discuss that controversial 'penalty' with referee Romain Poite

Plenty to talk about here from Sonny Bill's red card to the Geographical Six, but in the end it was THAT penalty decision in the third Test.

The All Blacks and Lions were tied 15-15 with two minutes left in the deciding Test when Ken Owens picked up a Liam Williams knock-on from an offside position.

Referee Romain Poite awarded the penalty, but after a protest from Sam Warburton, asked the TMO to check it.

After viewing the incident, Poite downgraded his decision to an accidental offside much to the disappointment of All Blacks coach Steve Hansen.

"If you look at Romain's instincts it was a penalty," Hansen said. "If he had trusted his instincts then he would've made the right decision.

"But he didn't and he got caught up in overthinking it and he made a mistake. You just have to accept it, as much as it can be frustrating and annoying."

Best fans story

Image: One lucky fan got to stay at Akira Ioane (L) and Rieko Ioane's house

One lucky British and Irish Lions fan received the surprise of a lifetime when he was invited to stay at the home of All Blacks stars Rieko and Akira Ioane - but he had no idea who they were.

Edwards struck up a conversation with Ioane's mum Sandra, who works at Ponsonby Rugby Club, and when she found out he was planning to sleep in his van in the car park, she insisted he come home and stay at her house.

"After meeting Ed and Sandra, they introduced the lads and I thought 'these lads are big units - I best not do anything too bad in the house'," Edwards said.

"After five or 10 minutes talking to Ed and having a cup of tea, I was like 'oh your lads must play a decent standard being that big'.

"And he goes 'you'll see them run out tomorrow night'. I was like 'what do you mean?' I thought they'd be running out for Ponsonby, Sandra's team. Then Ed said 'No, no, no. They're starting for the Blues, mate!'"

Best #FanVan moment

Scott Quinnell embraces his inner 'Gimli' as Lions meets Lord of the Rings, plus he's joined by a famous 'white orc'!

The adventures of Scott Quinnell, The Bear and Legs certainly grabbed everyone's attention with their exploits around New Zealand. There were plenty of great moments but our favourite was when Scotty and Richard Hill visited Weta Workshop to be transformed into a dwarf and orc from Lord of the Rings!

Sean Fitzpatrick's combined All Blacks/lions XV

As the dust settles on an incredible six weeks, here's a look back at some of the best bits of the British and Irish Lions Tour to New Zealand

15. Jordie Barrett

14. Rieko Ioane

13. Jonathan Davies

12. Owen Farrell

11. Elliot Daly

10. Beauden Barrett

9. Aaron Smith

1. Joe Moody

2. Jamie George

3. Tadgh Furlong

4. Maro Itoje

5. Brodie Retallick

6. Jerome Kaino

7. Sean O'Brien

8. Kieran Read

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