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Andy Farrell’s assistant coaches combine Lions experience with strong relationships with players - Getty Images/David Rogers
Selection is innately subjective and leaning on familiarity to pick a British and Irish Lions squad is entirely understandable, though it may manifest itself in different ways.
Andy Farrell might trust those he has worked with previously to return to form if they have been slightly off or injured. Equally, he could feel close enough to certain individuals to be able to deliver brutally disappointing news. There will be opponents he has admired from a distance, perhaps after storming performances against one of his sides.
Appointing assistants with different perspectives is shrewd. John Dalziel, the Scotland forwards coach who has worked in the age-group pathway and with the sevens set-up, will be vital in that sense. Richard Wigglesworth has been seconded from the England staff, with reasonably recent experience of playing himself at Leicester Tigers. Who better, for instance, to outline the qualities of someone like Ollie Chessum or Tommy Reffell?
Conditioning guru Aled Walters hopped across the Irish Sea last summer, yet was in the white corner with Steve Borthwick and Wigglesworth last July and should therefore be able to differentiate between the Smith fly-halves and even the Curry twins. In the past, Wales have benefitted from their coaches being part of Lions parties. This time around, the situation is altogether different.
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Aled Walters will know the England contingent well having worked alongside Steve Borthwick and Richard Wigglesworth - Getty Images/Steve Bardens
It is now nine years since Farrell joined Joe Schmidt’s backroom team as defence coach and he will return to his role as Ireland head coach when his Lions duties are done, which will be a difficult context to divorce himself from – especially given this trip could be a valuable sighter ahead of the 2027 World Cup.
He has achieved great things with Ireland, including multiple Six Nations titles and a series triumph in New Zealand, and will justifiably hold the protagonists of those feats in high regard.
Yet it is also worth considering Farrell’s other pursuits.
Between 2012 and 2015, he was an integral figure for England under Stuart Lancaster. In 2013 and 2017, he conducted the Lions’ defence. The best coaches are always learning, so you would expect those years to have moulded him. And while we are delving a decent way into the past, some players to have shared those experiences are still going strong.
At the end of March, it was revealed that he and his assistants had pulled together a 75-man longlist. After the last discussions among the coaches, we will find out how open Farrell has been to debate as that is whittled down. A player’s ability to deal with the pressures of a long tour and absorb setbacks such as being omitted for certain matches in Australia must be weighed up.
So these charts separate a non-exhaustive field into those that Farrell has previously coached in Test matches with England and Ireland or on Lions tours and those about whom he will need to have gleaned further information.
An interesting one to begin with, because Kyle Sinckler did not win an England cap until after the 2015 World Cup, despite training with the team and touring New Zealand the previous year.
Farrell did oversee him on the 2017 Lions tour, though. Cian Healy and Tadhg Furlong are two more Lions, while Andrew Porter and Finlay Bealham have become Ireland stalwarts since Farrell’s arrival.
The others are relying on testimonies, although scrum coach John Fogarty did name-check Asher Opoku-Fordjour back in March.
Jamie George and Luke Cowan-Dickie were both introduced to the top level in 2015, with the former starring on the 2017 Lions tour as well. Dan Sheehan and Ranan Kelleher have become Farrell favourites with Ireland, whereas Dalziel could press the cases of Ewan Ashman and Dave Cherry. Wigglesworth will know Theo Dan and Curtis Langdon from the England set-up.
James Ryan stands out here, because he has captained Ireland under Farrell. However, the 28-year-old has not been an automatic starter since the emergence of Joe McCarthy. That is partly because of Tadhg Beirne’s continued excellence. Iain Henderson was a 2017 tourist with the Lions.
Elsewhere among the locks, Maro Itoje missed out on selection for the 2015 World Cup while Farrell was with England, yet shot to prominence with the Lions two years later. Dalziel will have a close relationship with the Scotland second rows.
Again, the connection between Farrell and the Ireland cohort is strong. Does that mean players like Josh van der Flier are picked amid ferocious competition? One would expect Caelan Doris to be given every chance to recover from his shoulder ailment.
Courtney Lawes won 29 caps for England between 2011 and 2015 before becoming a Lion in 2017. That is testament to his ludicrous longevity. Peter O’Mahony, meanwhile, has won 79 Ireland caps since Farrell first arrived in 2016 – the joint-highest of any player – and skippered the Lions in the first Test in 2017.
Promoting Jamison Gibson-Park above Conor Murray as Ireland’s front-line scrum-half was a flagship move from Farrell, who was bidding to bring pace and unpredictability to the team’s attack. Wigglesworth, a trusted confidant, is bound to have strong views on the competitors for his old position. Mitchell’s magnificent display against Leinster was well timed.
Simon Easterby, the Lions defence coach, stood in for Farrell over the Six Nations as interim top dog and will therefore have witnessed Sam Prendergast’s campaign at close quarters. Jack Crowley was slipping to second in the pecking order before Farrell temporarily gave up the Ireland reins.
George Ford and, of course, Owen Farrell were senior England internationals prior to 2015. Owen has been on two Lions tours with his father, in 2013 and 2017, although there is behind-the-scenes footage of Andy pushing the case of Jonny Wilkinson – presumably over his son – 12 years ago.
Wigglesworth has collaborated closely with both Smiths, George Ford and Owen Farrell. The latter was a long-time half-back partner at Saracens. Andrew Goodman and Johnny Sexton are bound to figure in this debate as well. Some anticipate that to be bad news for Finn Russell, even if the Scotland and Bath playmaker was a member of the infamous “Geography Six” in 2017.
There are cohesive combinations to fall back upon, here, though Wigglesworth has been effusive about how Fraser Dingwall facilitates others. Henry Slade’s England debut came before the 2015 World Cup, as did that of Manu Tuilagi. The latter, now thriving at Bayonne, would be a shock inclusion, yet was a Lion in 2013. Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones will surely be granted scope to prove fitness.
James Lowe and Mack Hansen stick out here as influential individuals to have shaped Farrell’s Ireland. Both fit his brief as roaming wings in a “messy” phase attack. Elliot Daly, meanwhile, tore into the Test line-up for the 2017 Lions. He was starting for England by the end of this season’s Six Nations, which surely improves his prospects.
Of course, all of this is merely educated guesswork – there are plenty of players that Farrell is yet to work with. This is a step into the unknown for him as well, which makes everything all the more exciting.
Roll on Thursday, when what Farrell values will be laid bare by the squad announcement.
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