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Andy Farrell will have the “full support” of the Irish Rugby Football Association if he is approached to be head coach for the next British and Irish Lions tour.
Farrell is currently the lead candidate to replace Warren Gatland as head coach of the 2025 tour of Australia. year.
Preparations for the tour were discussed at the Lions board meeting in Dublin on Tuesday, and IRFU CEO Kevin Potts said: telegraph sport The 47-year-old Brit’s board told him he would get the support of the board if he was offered a job.
Given that the availability of head coaches from the main unions is not always guaranteed, it will come as welcome news for the Lions board. After his first year as England head coach in 2016, Eddie Jones was out of contention for the New Zealand tour the following year, despite winning the Grand Slam and beating Australia 3-0 in the summer tour.
RFU CEO at the time, Ian Ritchie, also confirmed that Jones wanted to stay in England to focus on building towards the 2019 World Cup.
Farrell was not available to take up a position on Gatland’s coaching team for the 2021 tour of South Africa, but Potts confirmed that if he was offered the best job this time around, he would be given the green light to do so.
“It would be an honor for us to have someone connected with the lions”
The appointment for the Australian tour is likely to be in the next 18 months, and the IRFU will have a contingency plan if Farrell is successful, who signed a two-year extension with the IRFU before the New Zealand tour in July. Gatland worked as a defensive coach touring Australia in 2013 and New Zealand four years later.
“If Andy Farrell or any other Irish coach had the honor of being named head coach of the Lions, Irish rugby would certainly be honored,” Potts said. “I think any coach or assistant coach or player stepping into the Lions will be seen as a good thing for Irish rugby.
“We’ve had people – the logistics people, the administrative people, and we tell them ‘of course’, it’s not a matter of saying they can never do it. Lions are the pinnacle of our sport.
“And if Andy Farrell or anyone else, of course, gets our approval and full support, and it would be an honor to have someone connected with the Lions. I’m sure that’s not what’s on Andy’s mind at this point.
Farrell would become the first Irish head coach to join the Lions since Eddie O’Sullivan was part of Sir Clive Woodward’s sizable coaching team for his 2005 tour of New Zealand.
Despite Jones’ interest in bringing Farrell, the defensive coach of former England head coach Stuart Lancaster, back to Twickenham in 2018, Potts said negotiations regarding his decision to extend his contract were straightforward.
While Farrell seems to have already indicated his willingness to stay in Ireland, the two-year extension effectively eliminated Farrell’s admission as England head coach to replace Jones when he was sacked last December.
“I think it was an easy decision to invite Andy to extend his contract long before his New Zealand tour,” Potts added. “He is an outstanding coach. Honestly, he’s top-notch and his impact on the entire cast and young players on the island is phenomenal. He’s a really good top-notch coach, we’re so lucky to have him. We didn’t even have to think about doing it, and we were delighted that he accepted.”
