Farrell: We Made Sure We’ve Got The Right People With Us

Farrell is the first Ireland head coach to lead the British & Irish Lions since Noel Murphy in 1980, and Irish Rugby is further represented in the Australia-bound coaching set-up by Simon Easterby, Andrew Goodman, and John Fogarty.

Scotland forwards coach John Dalziel and England senior assistant coach Richard Wigglesworth complete the newly-appointed quintet, who were unveiled to the media at Canterbury’s HQ in London.

Having watched closely how his assistants went about their business during the recent Guinness Men’s Six Nations, Farrell is confident that he has got the right people around him to make the tour to Australia a successful one.

“Delighted to actually get to this point,” he said of the appointment of his assistant coaches. “There’s been a lot of work in the background for over the last couple of months, operational wise, and now we’ve got to the point where we’ve assembled the coaching staff together.

“Yesterday was the first day we were able to get down to the real thing, and that’s the rugby. So, delighted to get to this point, but the process has been pretty easy actually.

“Staying patient enough, talking to enough people, making sure you do all your due diligence in regards to making sure we’ve got the right people with us, and we certainly have that.”

The involvement of four Irish Rugby coaches, on top of the historic 1888 Cup match against Argentina at the Aviva Stadium on Friday, June 20, will most certainly add to the excitement levels ahead of the live squad announcement, in front of 2,000 supporters, at London’s O2 on Thursday, May 8.

Farrell and his assistants have plenty of work ahead of them, with over 70 players on an initial list and some intriguing fixtures ahead for the clubs and provinces – including three knockout rounds of Investec Champions Cup action – before the Lions squad is made public.

“We bounced around with a wider squad yesterday (between us) and we came up with about 75 men or something like that. Every single one of them deserves to be on that list.

“There’s going to be a hell of a lot of good players who don’t make the plane and that’s exactly where we want to be.

“We want to be as competitive as we possibly can. Obviously, we’re going to be watching other games that are coming up (before May 8).”

Aiming to guide the world-famous touring team back to winning ways after their 2021 series defeat to South Africa, Farrell has previous Lions experience having been defence coach under Warren Gatland for the 2013 series win in Australia, and the drawn series in New Zealand four years later.

Taking the head coach reins from Gatland for this summer’s ten-match schedule, he was a unanimous choice put forward by a selection panel chaired by Ben Calveley, the British & Irish Lions CEO, and comprising of Lions royalty, Sir Ian McGeechan, 1997 tourist Nigel Redman, 2005 captain Brian O’Driscoll, and Lions Chairperson Ieuan Evans.

Along with leading Ireland to back-to-back Six Nations titles, including the 2023 Grand Slam, the Wigan man has had notable success on southern hemisphere soil, overseeing the historic series triumph in New Zealand in 2022, and the drawn series with the Springboks last summer.

He was Ireland’s defence coach when they claimed a 2-1 series victory over Australia back in 2018, and was in charge of the team for their Dublin defeats of the Wallabies in 2022 (13-10) and last November (22-19).

Easterby and Fogarty have been part of the Irish coaching ticket since 2014 and 2019 respectively, while the Autumn Nations Series earlier this season marked New Zealander Goodman’s first involvement.

That familiarity should help the Lions gel together quickly, with Farrell looking forward to the coaches doing what they do best both on and off the pitch, and also getting the chance to draw on what Dalziel and Wigglesworth, two shrewd operators, can bring to the table.

“There’s a lot of work that has gone into the scheduling and getting to this point, etc. It’s nice to actually show the boys exactly what is in front of them. It’s a starting point, selection, all of that,” he explained.

“Everything came out yesterday, a lot of laughs and a lot of giggles. A lot of cohesion straight away from minute one, so (a) great group, good blokes.

100%, (I just want them) to be themselves because they wouldn’t be here unless that was the case. Not only tactically, technically, are they brilliant at their jobs in that regard, but they’re adaptable.

“They’re able to integrate well together which is big on a tour like this obviously, but not just that, more than anything they’re good people.

“The cohesion of the coaching staff together is massive for the players. If they can see that we’re all on the same page and getting on very well together, then that’s a good start for everyone.”

Ireland captain Caelan Doris and Maro Itoje, who skippered England to a second place finish in the Six Nations, have been the two most talked about contenders for the Lions captaincy, but Farrell was remaining tightlipped about potential candidates for the role.

“Obviously I read all the stuff, so I get where you’re all at,” he said in relation to media speculation about the likely tour captain.

“But (I have) four or five, five or six (players in mind). Who is going to be themselves and flourish in that type of environment? It’s a process we will keep going through.

“A Lions captain has got to be highly respected within the group, and a person that is more than ­comfortable being himself within that and is able to do that.

“He’s got to have the respect, not just as a player, not just as a leader within the changing room, but a leader in the way he handles himself in the entirety of what a Lions captain should be.”