Forget All Black flyer Rieko Ioane - it's our wi-fi speed which worried Lion Anthony Watson

Lions wing Anthony Watson at Eden Park - he couldn't get enough of Love Island while on tour. Photo / Greg Bowker

First a drawn test series. And now this.

The British and Irish Lions not only put a dent in the All Blacks' pristine record this year, one of their star players has taken a lighthearted swipe at New Zealand's wi-fi speed.

English back Anthony Watson revealed on a BBC podcast that he was in a group of players who used the internet to regularly keep up with Love Island, a British dating reality show, while they were away.

The Lions returned home via Fiji and Las Vegas, and the podcast hosts Ugo Monye and Chris Jones joked with Watson about wi-fi speed being more important than the delights of hotel items like swimming pools, cocktail bars and massage rooms.

Watson revealed: "Seven or eight of the lads would regularly connect the laptop up to the TV...the wi-fi in Fiji was better than New Zealand."

Finding off-field cohesion is always one of the big talking points of Lions tours, which bring together players from England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland. Watson talked about the camaraderie which developed among players, and said his biggest surprise was the Welsh first five-eighth Dan Biggar.

"Being a No. 10, I was expecting him to be all seriousness but he was always cracking jokes," Watson said.

England coach Eddie Jones has picked out Watson as the most impressive of his players from the Lions tour.

Watson said: "It's always nice to hear that from the gaffer and especially someone like Eddie - you never know what you are going to get.

"It was a great tour, with a little bit more hype than I expected, especially with the amount of fans everywhere."