Gavin Hastings cannot remember his finest hour in a British and Irish Lions jersey.

No, the former Scotland full-back cannot recall scoring the try that sank Australia in the second Test of 1989 because of an almighty haymaker landed by the Wallabies captain.

In BBC Sport's Lions Legends podcast - hosted by two-tour captain Sam Warburton - Hastings discusses the bedlam, heartache and joy of his voyages to Australia and New Zealand and the magnitude of leading the Lions.

'I don't even remember scoring'

Rugby is in the grip of a concussion crisis but, 32 years ago, there were no pitch-side head injury assessments, no temporary replacements, and certainly no high-definition replays.

"Just before half-time, Nick Farr-Jones sent a right hook my way, caught me in the temple and I was concussed," says Hastings. "Concussion nowadays means you're coming off, but I remember the physio coming on and I asked him where we were.

"He replied, 'We're in Brisbane'.

"'How are we getting on?'

"'It's pretty close.'

"'What happens if I come off?'

"He said, 'you're on the plane home'.

"I'm not casting aspersions about the physio, but I stayed on, and scored the winning try and I don't even remember scoring it.

"I knew we'd won and squared the series 1-1, and the press asked me to talk them through the try. I said I'd have to go and see it again, it all happened so quickly, and the truth was that I don't even remember scoring."

'His face was like The Elephant Man'

That tour was notorious for its brutality. That second Test was later dubbed the 'Battle of Ballymore'. The Lions emerged triumphant from the violence to level the series, and won the decisive third match.

But it was in New Zealand four years later - with Hastings captain - that his brother Scott suffered a gruesome broken cheekbone in a provincial match against Otago.

"I remember going in to hospital with [tour doctor] James Robson the next morning," says Hastings. "Scott's face was like The Elephant Man - a black eye and massively puffed out.

"When I went in to see him, I was just about sick all over the ward. I was thinking, 'God, Scott, you're a mess, off you go home'. The pair of us never had much sympathy for each other when we were in states like that."

'Moore sunk the can and threw it back'

The 1993 squad was the last to be chosen "by committee", with a set of selectors bickering and brokering their way to a final group. Sir Ian McGeechan, the head coach, did not have full autonomy.

It fostered resentment from some of the touring party. Others, who were well adrift of making the Test side, veered off the straight and narrow and the Lions were controversially beaten in the first Test.

As in 1989, the second had to be claimed to salvage the series. Hastings was dogged by a hamstring problem, but McGeechan insisted his captain played. He racked up 13 points from the tee in a thunderous victory.

"In the first five minutes, Grant Fox put up a high ball, I dropped it and Eroni Clarke scored under the posts. But we came back into it, the forwards were tremendous," says Hastings.

"Rory Underwood scored one of the iconic tries of the Lions, and Brian Moore was running back up and flicking his fingers up to that stand, and all these beer cans are raining down on us.

"Most of them were empty, but this one landed right beside him with a giant thud, so he pulled back the ring, took a gulp, almost finished the can, chucked it in the stand and shouted back. That was Brian to a tee."

'I'll treasure it for rest of my days'

At 59, Hastings remains inextricably linked with the Lions. He still holds the record for the most points scored in Test matches. He is a member of Lions' charitable trust board, helping injured and otherwise stricken players.

He is fiercely proud of being a member of this exclusive rugby club and he rails against the notion that it could be swallowed up by the game's sprawling calendar and competing interests.

"I wish administrators and people who run individual unions would realise what it is that makes the Lions special," he says. "Less is more. The fact they only go on tour once every four years, that is what makes it magic.

"Every four years when the Lions comes around, it's the only time where I think, I would love to put the boots on for one last hurrah.

"Those of us who are lucky enough to have led the Lions on tour, it's a massive privilege, and one I'll treasure for the rest of my days."