Farrell remains tight-lipped on Lions gig 

NO WORD: Ireland forwards coach Paul O’Connell and head coach Andy Farrell. Pic: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

Andy Farrell remained tight-lipped last night on today’s British & Irish Lions head coach appointment in the City of London but you would fancy the nearby Stock Exchange could even crash if it was not the Ireland boss who got the nod for the 2025 Tour to Australia.

Farrell was on stage at the Guinness Rugby Writers of Ireland Awards at Dublin’s Guinness Storehouse to collect the Dave Guiney Guinness Rugby Writers of Ireland Team of the Year award on behalf of the players and management groups he led with distinction throughout 2023.

It was a 12-month spell that ultimately ended in disappointment with Ireland experiencing another Rugby World Cup quarter-final defeat, 28-24 to New Zealand at Stade de France last October 14, but what preceded it was memorable, to say the least. 

Ireland’s Six Nations Grand Slam and seven subsequent Test victories as Farrell’s men topped their World Cup pool in France having dispatched defending and future champions South Africa for the second time in 11 months along the way was proof enough of last night’s Team of the Year award, despite Munster staking a claim with their remarkable URC title success in 2022-23.

It earned the head coach World Rugby’s Coach of the Year award for 2023 and an IRFU contract extension, announced just before Christmas, until the end of the 2027 World Cup in Australia. 

And it would be a major surprise if Farrell, a Lions defence coach under Warren Gatland on the 2013 and 2017 tours, did not start 2024 by being elevated to lead the 2025 Lions back Down Under in 17 months.

Today’s announcement is due at 1pm at the headquarters of new shirt sponsors Howden and while Farrell’s main focus will be on the make-up of his Ireland squad, to be revealed next Wednesday for the upcoming Six Nations opener against France in Marseille on Friday, February 1, there has not been any competition seriously discussed for the Lions post.

Outgoing IRFU performance director David Nucifora said last month there would be no opposition to Farrell’s potential appointment as Lions tour leader, with the head coach expected to be given leave, possibly up to 12 months, from his national role to prepare adequately for rugby’s toughest coaching assignment.

Farrell has experience of what will be required, having studied Gatland successfully get to grips with the role at close hand in Australia in 2013 and New Zealand four years later. Yet in an ever-changing rugby environment, it remains no small feat to throw together a scratch squad from four countries in order to hit the ground running on the other side of the world for a nine-game, three-Test series across just five weeks.

Yet the former Wigan Warrior has proved in his tenure as Ireland head coach since 2019 that he is up to the task, embracing adversity and arming his players with the confidence and weaponry to make decisions and problem-solve on the hoof while also developing an impressive brand of attacking rugby. 

It has proven a winning combination and seems tailor-made for the unique demands of the British & Irish Lions.