Whilst at the University of York, Lyons specialized in the study of the politics of Southern Africa. Under the supervision of Christopher Hill and Adrian Leftwich, he used his interest in sport to investigate the impact of South Africa's apartheid policy on sport opportunity. His undergraduate thesis was titled "Sanctions against Apartheid Sport". During that time he was introduced to Dennis Brutus and was given access to the archived papers of the Capricorn Africa Society held at York as a primary source for his research. Years later he met Sam Ramsamy and Peter Hain. He became involved in the activities of South Africa non-racial Olympic Committee (SAN-ROC) and spoke out as a rugby union player about the impact of apartheid on sport. As a result of these activities he was placed on a list of sportsmen excluded from traveling to South Africa. He was able to visit South Africa in 1995 as a member of the management team for the Welsh rugby union team participating in the World Cup.