Amid the glittering fanfare surrounding Andy Farrell’s appointment this week as head coach of the British and Irish Lions for their tour of Australia next year, there was little in the way of detail.
It appears Farrell will have a blank canvas from which to draw his coaching and support staff teams, with the only other confirmed appointment being Ieuan Evans, who will double up in his tour manager role as Lions chairman. There will be no rush to fill vacant quotas. Farrell will remain Ireland head coach until the end of the autumn series and plans to take his time to ensure he has the right mix of technical skills and complementary personalities.
Farrell’s message to the players was equally far-reaching. He will have a free hand in selecting players based in France and has not ruled out selecting an uncapped ‘rookie’, the latter of whom will have a free hand in selecting players based in France, even if it means they cannot take part in the opening round matches due to Top 14 commitments. It was Will Greenwood on the 1997 tour of South Africa, although professionalism has made such selections exceedingly rare.
“The biggest thing that drives a team is competition for space, and we have the plays to do that,” Farrell said.
“If someone comes out of nowhere and he’s a special talent and he’s going to shake things up a little bit with someone who thinks he’s going to be drafted, that’s got to be good for the team.”
Unique challenges of the Lions tour
But while finer details of what the Farrell Lions tour will look like remain sparse for now, he has laid a major foundation stone that will shape the entire 10-game tour.
When he was told that history had shown the Lions’ record to be relatively poor given the talent at their disposal, and logistical difficulties in the final rounds often left the tourists with difficulties to prepare for a tough race. After the crucial first Test, Farrell insisted there would be a “no excuses mentality” on his tour.
Unlike Warren Gatland in the previous three rounds, Farrell will have the benefit of a two-week preparation period with all his players in England and Ireland, given the decision by both the Premiership and URC to move the 2025 finals forward by a week. However, Farrell is adamant that the players he selects must have the character to cope with the unique challenges of the Lions tour in today’s rugby.
“There’s no excuse not to be ready for the first Test,” Farrell said. “I hear what you say about the recent past and the statistics, but that doesn’t mean you can’t pick yourself up off the ground; If you can’t handle it, you’re already the wrong kind of character.
“In its purest form, a three-match Test series is extra special because so often in the history of three-match series you see that a team going into the first Test has confidence and momentum, but there is also a confidence and momentum that comes with that, but if it’s the losing side it’s fighting for its life and you see that they can cope with such pressures.
“Ultimately that is what it comes down to and the type of staff we have needs to be able to thrive in that type of environment. “And then you see whoever wins the second Test, whether they have the minerals to carry them to that kind of performance when it really matters.”
‘This is tour in its purest form’
Travel, combined with business engagements and the requirement to play two games a week, puts a strain on both coach and player, so Farrell says the deciding criterion will not be talent alone. The tour captain will also not be guaranteed a starting place in the Test side.
“I love gaming,” Farrell added. “I look back a long time ago when teams in a league system or a different type of competition were playing for five trophies and the accumulation of games was astounding [compared] to recent times. Did they complain?
“They didn’t complain because it was, it was, and things have changed since then, so people have an excuse or a gripe. To me that’s the purest form of touring and how touring should be done and you have to embrace that and have a no excuses mentality when you go after it and make sure you’re doing the best you can.
The Lions were pioneers not only in rugby but also behind-the-scenes video diaries, which have become very popular on streaming services such as Netflix.
Lions CEO Ben Calveley confirmed talks were ongoing about a documentary for the 2025 tour.
“Doing things like this isn’t new to us,” he said. “We’d like to do something in 2025 that brings fans as close to the action as possible. The exact nature of that is to be decided, but we want to do something. The important thing for us isn’t to do something we’ve done in previous tours; we want to bring fans as close to the action as possible and give them a truly immersive experience.” .The exact format will be determined.”