The British and Irish Lions are officially en route to New Zealand after putting in one final choral rehersal at the official team dinner in London on Monday night (NZ time).
The squad spent their final evening in the UK at a farewell banquet where they had an opportunity to show off a few songs from the repertoire that they've been preparing for the trip.
Coach Warren Gatland has been holding singing practice as part of training for the past few weeks, with four songs being prepared as a response to the All Blacks haka, one for each of the nations represented.
The set list includes the anthemic Jerusalem, Colan Lan, Fields of Athenry, and Highland Cathedral.
Three of those were perfomed at the dinner, with Ireland's Robbie Henshaw leading a rousing rendition of celtic favourite Fields of Athenry as an encore.
Players were in high spirits as they boarded the southern-bound plane the following morning, with England flanker Mario Itoje still clinging faithfully to 'Billy the Lion', the team mascot traditionally entrusted to the youngest player on the tour.
Welsh halfback Rhys Webb admitted the sense of excitement has reached a new level now that the entire squad is together and ready to embark on the demanding month ahead.
"There’s a lot of smiles on boys faces as it should be, and I think they want to get out there and start expressing themselves," Webb told Lionsrugby.com.
"Putting on the kit, the training kit, and coming together with boys from different nations and training with world class individuals and coaches, it’s been massive and I’ve been hugely impressed by the talent in the squad and the coaches.
“We're just excited about getting over there and getting stuck into it now."
The 41-strong squad is scheduled to arrive in the country on Wednesday, local time, ahead of their first match against the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians on Friday.
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