Yahoo Sports Seven months to go - Farrell's Lions to-do list
With Ireland rounding off their autumn campaign with a narrow win over Australia, Andy Farrell is now officially the head coach of the British and Irish Lions, a job he will do full time between now and the end of the tour in August.
Farrell got the better of Joe Schmidt and his Wallabies in Dublin - and he will plot to do the same across the three Test matches down under next summer, as the Lions look to win a first series in 12 years.
Following a promising November for Schmidt's side, Farrell declared that Australia are "on an upward curve, massively".
His work starts now.
Selection: Players
While supporters from the four corners of the home nations have already started selecting their Lions squads, Farrell will take his time to pick the one that counts.
He is expected to name his final party – of about 35 to 40 players – in late April or early May, and while some players have moved forward and others back through the Autumn Nations Series, the 2025 Six Nations will have an enormous bearing on selection.
"I feel like the Autumn Nations Series are your GCSEs, and the Six Nations are your A-Levels. That's what is really, really going to matter," former Lions wing Ugo Monye told the Rugby Union Weekly podcast.
To illustrate this point, the winners of the Six Nations preceding a tour have traditionally provided a large cohort of players.
In 2013 – the last time the Lions toured Australia – champions Wales provided 15 of the 37 originally selected, while in 2017 title winners England provided 16 of the 41.
In 2021 there was another healthy Welsh contingent after they won the title.
"No-one remembers how well you played in the autumn when it's Lions year," added 100-cap former England scrum-half Danny Care.
"You remember who won the Six Nations, or who played really well, and who is playing in those big knockout European games in April and May."
Farrell will also need to decide what to do about those players based in France who are not currently playing international rugby.
Toulouse's Jack Willis, one of the form players in Europe, is ineligible for England but can be picked for the Lions; the same applies to Farrell's son, Owen, and a host of other Englishmen operating across the Channel.
Meanwhile Willis' team-mate at Toulouse, Blair Kinghorn, should almost certainly make the touring party, especially given how prominent he will be for Scotland in the Six Nations.
However the Lions tour overlaps with the French Top 14 season, with the league's semi-finals taking place the same weekend as the Lions against Argentina in Dublin, and the final the same day as the Lions' tour opener against the Western Force.
If Toulouse, for example, make the final, Kinghorn would have to join the tour late.
So Farrell has a conundrum. While the Lions management have given him the green light to select whoever he wants, a Top 14 finalist could miss as many as four of the Lions' 10 matches depending on when they arrive on the ground in Australia and the protocols around jet lag.
What will Farrell value more: quality, or availability?
On the plus side, Farrell has been dealt a better hand than previous Lions boss Warren Gatland when it comes to clashes with the domestic leagues.
In 2021 the Premiership final took place on the same day the Lions faced Japan in Edinburgh, while the 2017 tour of New Zealand was also beset by scheduling issues.
This time, both the United Rugby Championship and Premiership finals take place the weekend before the Argentina curtain-raiser.
Selection: Captain
In 2021, Wales skipper Alun Wyn Jones, England captain Owen Farrell, Ireland skipper Johnny Sexton and Scotland captain Stuart Hogg all had extensive Lions experience. But it will be a different picture this time around.
England captain Jamie George is a Lions veteran and has a good chance of making the tour, but faces stiff competition for a Test spot at hooker.
Wales' Dewi Lake, another hooker, has performed admirably on and off the pitch this autumn but has never been on a Lions tour. The same applies to Caelan Doris of Ireland.
The Scotland captaincy has been passed around recently, but seems to have found a comfortable home with the outstanding centre Sione Tuipulotu. He is a shoo-in for the tour party, but is another without any Lions experience.
This should not matter too much – Sam Warburton was a Lions rookie when he was named captain in 2013 – but nonetheless Farrell does not have as many wise old heads in leadership roles as Gatland did on previous tours.
As 2024 draws to a close, Doris is the leading candidate. His form at number eight has been consistent over the past few seasons – he was on the shortlist for world player of the year – and is growing in leadership experience with province and country.
But, again, the Six Nations should be decisive; the winners of the Championship have provided the Lions captain for three of the last four tours.
Farrell could also look outside the four national team skippers. In 1997 Martin Johnson was Lions captain without being in charge of England and Ireland's Paul O'Connell in 2009 and Warburton in 2017 followed suit.
England's Maro Itoje – a Test starter on the last two tours - is a contender in this mould and is one of the favourites with the bookies.
Selection: Coaches
If Farrell is able to take his time over selecting his playing squad, his coaching ticket is slightly more urgent, with negotiations to be done between the Lions and the various unions or clubs to ensure release from their contracts.
In theory, Farrell has countless coaches to choose from as he looks to assemble a dream backroom team. The reality is a little different.
England boss Steve Borthwick – a key man in 2017 and wanted by Gatland again in 2021 – is not available.
Gregor Townsend, an assistant in South Africa three years ago and a Lions hero as a player, is expected to take his Scotland side on their summer tour. Ireland defence coach Simon Easterby is stepping into Farrell's shoes.
Other big names have been touted.
Ronan O'Gara, three times a Lions tourist and a serial winner as a coach, would be a brilliant coup for Farrell, but it is inconceivable he would be released by La Rochelle for the business end of the Top 14 season.
It is even more unlikely Shaun Edwards would be released by France with Les Bleus going on tour to New Zealand next July.
Therefore Farrell's team will predominantly come from those currently coaching at the home unions.
Scotland defence coach Steve Tandy, England attack coach Richard Wigglesworth, and exiled England coach Felix Jones – who by next summer will be a free agent – are all prime contenders.
So too is Ireland forwards coach O'Connell, a man who toured with distinction in 2005, 2009 and 2013. O'Connell was in the mix to go as a coach last time around, but lacked experience at the highest level at the time, something that is not an issue four years on.
Another man in the Ireland set-up, strength and conditioning guru Aled Walters, feels a certainty.
In January Farrell will lead a Lions delegation to Australia for a reconnaissance trip, before the start of his ultimate scouting mission, the Six Nations.
But first he will take a few weeks to get his feet under the table, aided by his Sandymount home being a stone's throw from Lions headquarters in Ballsbridge, and says he will not rush to make the big calls.
"Obviously there is a bit of planning that needs to happen," he said.
"I am going to give myself a little bit of space to get across all that. If you get things done too early, you can't undo them. So a little bit of patience and now I'll have a bit of time to be able to hopefully see the path as it should be."
