Lions carry hope against history in their lunatic endeavour to beat the All Blacks | Andy Bull

The history books tell a story of home nations toiling against New Zealand but on the eve of the first Test the anticipation and optimism remains unparalleledNine in the morning, the day before the game. Jet-lagged Lions fans are up before the winter sun, ambling around in a daze. They say there are 20,000 of them here, but Auckland has more than a million citizens and for the last few days the straggling bands of foreign supporters, conspicuous in their red jerseys, have looked a little lost in the bustle of a city going about its business.But on Friday morning everything changed. Now they’re…