IRELAND second row forward Jeremy Davidson has been voted "best forward of the tour" by the journalists who covered the Lions tour to South Africa, which ended at Ellis Park on Saturday when South Africa won the third Test.

The victory was little consolation to the Springboks, who lost the series 2-1.

Davidson, who had an outstanding tour and played in all three Tests, also shared the accolade of "most improved player" with Scotland prop Tom Smith. Welsh centre Scott Gibbs was voted "player of the tour" and "best back of the tour".

"The 1997 Lions are now history, a group of players who will not, as a team or a squad, play again

"That," said Ian McGeechan, the man who has coached the last three Lions teams - in Australia in 1989, in New Zealand in 1993 and now, in South Africa in 1997 - makes each Lions team "unique in itself".

"Lions teams come together every four years, they prepare for tours, they play their matches and then they disband. That is how it has always been," said McGeechan.

But McGeechan, the Lions manager Fran Cotton and assistant coach Jim Telfer were unanimous in making an impassioned plea that rugby in Britain and Ireland must benefit from the tour.

"There is a responsibility on all four national coaches in Britain and Ireland to build on what has been achieved here," said Cotton.

"I hope the players will now go back and give the benefit of what they have learned on this tour to their clubs and their countries," said McGeechan. He said he would like to see the Lions playing at home, but recognises the difficulties involved in that.

"I would like to see a tier above the Five Nations Championship at home," added McGeechan. "But I do realise the practical problems in that concept. The Lions play every four years, you build a squad and then it disbands, but that is what makes each tour unique in itself."

Telfer said: "We settled on a playing philosophy and a selection policy to match it, and that was fundamental to the success of the tour."

Cotton stressed the importance of regional rugby in the four countries and pointed to the Super 12 series between regional sides from South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

"But we have established credibility on this tour. The game in the Northern Hemisphere is constantly being denigrated. While we still have some way to go, I hope the people at home, including the rugby authorities, will recognise what has been achieved."

Ray Williams, chairman of the Four Home Unions, the body responsible for organising Lions tours, described the 1997 Lions as "a very special group of players and management. Winning the series has been a great occasion in the history of Lions rugby. They played some great rugby and it was passion without malice that is how the game should be played."

Williams, who retires next Saturday, said there is recognition that the game is still "on a learning curve as far as professionalism is concerned".

He dismissed as "impractical" the suggestion that there should be more Lions tours and that the Lions should play at home.

"How, in the current climate of the game, could Lions teams have the necessary preparation to play at home?

"Louis Luyt, the president of the South African Rugby Union, says that the Lions should tour more often. That just is not possible. The Lions play every four years, there is a World Cup every four years, there are tours by individual countries. I believe that if we are not careful, international rugby will be over exposed. I know we are in a professional era, but you cannot keep increasing the demands on players and they are severe already," he said.

He also agreed that the standard of refereeing was not keeping pace with the standard of the game in the new era. "That is something of which we are aware and are working towards rectifying it."

Telfer said that a proper balance must be maintained with regard to representative fixtures.

"Top players are being asked to play too much rugby. There is a very real danger that they will not last more than five or six years. The game is now more intense than ever, the level of competition is higher and players should be playing fewer matches than they are currently being asked to play. We must get the balance right to maintain and improve standards and at the same time, not ask too much of the top players."

With most of the English players in the Lions squad travelling on to Australia today for the Test match against the Wallabies next Saturday, it will be a very depleted party that will fly to London tonight.

"We want to pay due tribute and give proper recognition to what the squad has achieved," said Williams. "We will be bringing the whole squad together in London early in the season to do that.

"These players and the management team have taken a huge step for British and Irish rugby. Let us not forget that the 1997 Lions achieved what only two other teams have managed in a century, to win a Test series in South Africa."