WATCH: 4 comedians investigate just how united the 4 British and Irish Lions countries really are

It’s long been thought that English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh sports fans tend to revel in the glorious defeats of our neighbouring home nations.

But is this really the case?

Blended Scotch whisky, Whyte & Mackay, official suppliers of The British & Irish Lions Tour 2017 sent four comedians across the nations to create a series of four short films where they discover, despite cultural stereotypes, that the locals have more in common then you might think.

Comedians Link and Lorne’s Joe Hullait (from England) and Ewan Denny (from Scotland), Andrew Maxwell (from Ireland) and Lloyd Longford (from Wales) – took a look at what different rugby fans look like in each nation (with some help in Scotland from rugby legend Kenny Logan.)

Comedy duo Link and Lorne shared: “We found that it truly doesn’t matter where you come from, for us, there’s more uniting us than dividing us. It’s also all about the rugby and embracing our national quirks together. As we and our fellow comedian pals toured the nations, we realised it was surprisingly smooth for us to connect with the locals and they truly are ‘just like us.”

Whyte & Mackay is calling all rugby fans to take its online ‘Lion Detector’ test to prove that they too can be smooth enough to cast rivalries aside. A Facebook Bot using voice-activated technology asks fans to repeat a series of statements about the other nations and will judge how genuine they are from their delivery.

Give it a go here: http://bit.ly/2qCsnWj

Throughout the Lion’s Tour, Whyte & Mackay will continue to offer exclusive prizes and will be announcing some select dates around the UK to help even more Lions fans #StaySmooth.

A survey commissioned by Whyte & Mackay has also revealed that we have more common ground than we presume, dispelling the usual stereotypes.

1600 rugby fans from throughout Britain and Ireland were questioned on their allegiances – and whilst fierce rivalries remain when we are pitched against one another, it seems that more than half of us secretly root for our closest competitors when they play internationally. Surprisingly, 53% of survey respondents revealed that they will cheer on another of the nations’ sports teams when their team is not in play.

The nationwide survey also found that:

The English are the most competitive and the most passionate; according to 37% of all respondents who also think the English have the biggest tendency to be sore losers. Six in 10 people from Scotland think the English have a stiff upper lip and 57% of Welsh agree. Seven in 10 people from across the UK agreed that the English don’t actually like to queue.

The Irish are the friendliest and have the best sense of humour; 33% agree with this and 42% like the Irish accent best. 3 in 5 respondents agree the Irish and Northern Irish have the’ gift of the gab’. Almost half respondents agreed that Mrs Brown’s Boys was an accurate portrayal.

The Scottish are the humblest nation following a defeat; according to all other nations. While 37% liked the Scots accent best of the nations surveyed (beaten only by the Irish), sports fans also found Glaswegians to be the most difficult to understand. Just over half of English disagreed that Scots are tight with their money.

The Welsh are the most obsessed with rugby; so says 63% of sports fans across the nations. 59% of all people surveyed don’t think that people from Wales speak Welsh. 68% of Welsh people think the English can’t get enough cups of tea – and three quarters of the English admit this is accurate.