Did you think South Africa would beat the British and Irish Lions?

Also, when was the last time the B&I Lions actually won a tour? I’m sure they lost against New Zealand.

Odd timing to this question, given that the Springboks took two of of three from the Lions just last summer. They certainly weren’t crushed, just beaten by a better team. In particular, the second game in the series could have gone either way. It will be Australia’s turn in the next tour (2013), but that isn’t for another three years.

Anyway, in the modern professional era is unrealistic to expect the B&I Lions to beat any established Tier One national side in a multi-game series. The are a collection of fine brilliant individual players but they are still individuals. The squad is essentially a "throw-together" one which only trains and plays together for six to eight weeks every four years. But it takes a full year of training to turn a collection of individual players into a TEAM. It is a wonderful publicity and fund raising tour for the sport, but it is not serious rugby.

Same factors apply to the SH powers. If a hypothetical SANZAR squad (organized on the same basis – six seeks out of every four years) were to tour the home nations and/or France, they would do no better, for the same reasons. They would win the odd game, but would not be consistent enough to do it on a regular basis.

To answer the other part of your question, the last time the Lions won a test series was their most recent (excepting last year) tour against the Springboks in 1997. A last gasp of the amateur era.