B&I Lions to follow Bok formula
REACTION: British and Irish Lions coach Andy Farrell is “open-minded” when it comes to selecting France-based players, including son Owen, for the upcoming tour of Australia.
Farrell named his five assistant coaches – Simon Easterby, Richard Wigglesworth, John Dalziel, Andrew Goodman and John Fogarty – for the three-Test series against the Wallabies.
Farrell, seconded from his role as Ireland coach, suggested 75 players were still in contention to make the squad which will be announced on May 8.
Several France-based players are still in the mix, even though any appearing in the Top 14 Final would miss the Lions’ opening two fixtures, against Argentina in Dublin on June 20 and the Western Force in Perth eight days later.
Toulouse duo Blair Kinghorn and Jack Willis are the most likely to be involved in the Top 14 showpiece, while former England captains Owen Farrell and Courtney Lawes are also now with French teams.
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“We’re open-minded about all of that,” Farrell told reporters.
“We could have a conversation with some clubs over there [France], they might release them. These things will be ongoing.”
Owen Farrell is already a three-time Lions tourist but the flyhalf’s first season at Racing 92 has been hampered by a groin injury.
Asked about selecting his son for the tour, Andy Farrell replied: “Same as everyone else. He’s just coming back from injury. You keep an eye on everything.”
There is no representative in Farrell’s coaching team from Wales, who suffered a second successive wooden spoon finish in this season’s Six Nations and are on a woeful run of 17 successive Test defeats.
“I know that’s idealistic for everyone [to have all four nations represented], but surely this has to be done on merit for who fits?,” Farrell said.
England’s Maro Itoje and Ireland’s Caelan Doris are the leading contenders to captain the Lions.
“Obviously he [the captain] has got to have the respect, not just as a player and not just as a leader within the changing room, but as a leader in the way that he handles himself in the entirety of what a Lions captain should be,” Farrell said.
