Andy Farrell's awkwardness over whether to choose Owen for Lions speaks volumes | Gerard Meagher

03/26/2025 02:00 PM

Owen Farrell's form for Racing has been criticised but his selection would bring undoubted valuable experience

Andy Farrell gathered his newly appointed British & Irish Lions coaches at the upmarket Rosewood hotel in London on Monday. They spent most of Tuesday chewing the fat, then sunk their teeth into a steak dinner at Hawksmoor restaurant. Bread was broken, the next significant signpost towards the summer tour of Australia ticked off.

If there were no major surprises on his coaching staff – three from Ireland and one each from Scotland and England – it felt telling that while you could make a pretty good guess, no one has been assigned specific roles yet. Farrell wants his staff to work in harness rather than worry about precise remits in isolation. To build cohesion rather concern themselves with detail just yet.