Losing the final Test, but winning the series, will mean they go down as a great side but certainly not among the legendary Lions squads from history.
They were impeccably captained by Maro Itoje, who does rise up the list of great Lions players.
You can add Tadhg Furlong to that list as well. The Irish prop has now completed three tours having played all nine Test matches.
Tadhg Beirne played every minute of the three tests and was rightly voted the Lions Player of the Series.
Dan Sheehan, Tom Curry, Jamison Gibson-Park, Finn Russell and Huw Jones were others who return home with their reputations enhanced.
Under Farrell, the Lions tried to play an expansive game and, at times, they produced some great rugby.
The first half of the opening test in Brisbane, combined with the last fifteen minutes of the second test in Melbourne, were perhaps their best moments and they were enough to win the series.
However there will be disappointment that they didn’t produce the full 80-minute performance that would have showcased their talents.
They had hoped to do that in Sydney in the final test but the weather and a highly motivated Australia put pay to that.
The Wallabies will also look back in hindsight with some regrets. They only had one warm up game, a narrow win over Fiji, and were horribly under-cooked for the first test in Brisbane.
They improved dramatically as the series went on and will point to the controversial decision not to penalise Jac Morgan for his clear out on Carlo Tizzano at the end of the test in Melbourne, as the only moment standing between them and a series win.
And what if Will Skelton and Bobby Valetini had been fit for all three matches?
Sport is always full of if’s, buts and maybes.
