British and Irish Lions: Sam Warburton dedicates rest of tour to victims of London terror attacks

The full squad and staff only learned of the harrowing events in London after being welcomed by a Maori ceremony in Waitangi

Sam Warburton at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds in New Zealand (Getty)

Sam Warburton has said that the British and Irish Lions will dedicate all of their remaining fixtures on the tour of New Zealand to the victims of the London terror attacks after learning of the shocking events in London on Sunday morning [Saturday night BST].

The Lions squad and staff sent their best wishes to those affected by the London terror attacks after attending a Maori welcoming ceremony at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds in Northlands.

The scenes across London, which have left at least six people dead after three terrorists targeted locations across the English capital, also led to at least 20 other casualties.

With the British and Irish Lions currently touring New Zealand, many of the squad were concerned to learn about the events unfolding back home, and once their Maori welcome on the sacred grounds concluded, the full extent of the attacks were revealed to the players and coaching team.

Tour manager John Spencer quickly addressed the media to confirm that they had been informed about the harrowing events, and to send their thoughts and wishes to those back in the United Kingdom that had been caught up in the terror attack, while team captain Sam Warburton quickly sent a message to support anyone who had been impacted by the events.

“We just wanted to wish all those involved all the best wishes from the Lions players and management and just that our thoughts are always with the people back home in Britain and Ireland, so our thoughts and sympathies go out to the families of the people involved in that incident,” Warburton said.

"In future performances and wins, we'll dedicate to those who have been involved and I guess we can play a small part in trying to cheer a majority of the nation up by trying to be successful over here.

"We'll commit our performances and all our efforts to those involved recently in London."

Spencer added: “We’ve only just heard that there’s been a tragedy in London today. We don’t know any detail about it but we understand that there have been tragedies, and I just want to send our best wishes to people back home, but also to say that anyone who has been injured there, you and your families are certainly in our thoughts and prayers, and we will be thinking about you.

“As I say, we don’t know the details but we’re very anxious to make that known back home.”

The Lions have now travelled back to Auckland to prepare for their next match against the Blues, having gotten their tour off to a winning start in Saturday’s 13-7 victory over the New Zealand Barbarians.