It wasn’t a particularly well kept secret. Still, to see nearly the entire Ireland coaching ticket stride on stage, resplendent in Lions red, was some sight. You’d do well to dig through the annals and find another occasion where four Irish coaches took charge of northern hemisphere rugby’s showpiece event.
Andy Farrell has added long-time lieutenants Simon Easterby and John Fogarty, along with relative newcomer Andrew Goodman, to his Lions coaching ticket. England’s Richard Wigglesworth and Scotland’s John Dalziel round off the group.
Paul O’Connell will take charge of Ireland’s summer tour to Georgia and Portugal. Perhaps there was no other option: he’s the only Irish coach left.
Have the Lions left Ireland in the lurch?
All five newly announced Lions assistants expressed their pride in the trust placed in them by Farrell. From an Irish perspective, though, there is a question whether the national side has been left in the lurch during an important period of transition following a middling Six Nations.
The Counter Ruck: the rugby newsletter from The Irish Times
Ireland go hunting for their third away victory in this season’s Six Nations championship
Munster assistant coach Lawler is confident any problems can be ironed out before Cardiff on Friday
Clontarf’s Conor Kelly out to banish the ghosts of 2023 in Sunday’s league final
“I understand that, I understand why you are asking the question,” said Farrell. “But I would say, first and foremost, it gives me great pleasure that the IRFU are on the same thinking of where I’m at, in regards to they are proud and privileged that their coaches, some of them, get the opportunity to take this on board and put their British & IrisIrish Lions on.
“I’ve absolutely no doubt, it’s one of the reasons why I jump at the chance as well, is the fact that it’s going to grow us all, every coach that’s part of it, every part of the high performance staff and up to 80 people that’s going on the tour, it’s going to make us all bigger, better, stronger for the future.
“And then you know the dynamics of what does happen over there, in regards to Emerging Ireland tours, A games, coaching staff being cohesive, a similar type of way of playing, all being connected throughout the year, etc. The dynamics work well.”
Easterby too focused on “probably one of the greatest opportunities you can have as a coach,” as opposed to the risk of new Irish players being blooded along with an inexperienced coaching ticket. “I don’t think it makes it more difficult,” he said.
“The opportunity to keep growing the experience of us as a coaching group but also some of the coaches of the provinces getting a chance to coach at an international level will only stand to the group and stand to those coaches across the next couple of years.
“I’ve just shifted my focus a little bit. I’ll still be involved in that planning [for Ireland’s summer tour], handing that over. That’s still a really important part of Faz’s and my role in terms of making sure that success and we get the right people on that tour. There’s a little bit of work still to do there with David Humphries, Paul [O’Connell], and getting that sorted before we start to focus fully on the Lions.”
In a way, the move to bring in Dalziel, the closest of any of the coaches to a surprise appointment, makes sense. Whether O’Connell was Farrell’s first choice or not remains to be seen, but the former Ireland secondrow had previously expressed his reluctance to come on board.
“Warren Gatland and Shaun Edwards did such a good job with it under Ian McGeechan in 2009, they simplified the game so much that within two, three training sessions we knew what we stood for,” said O’Connell last year on the Indo Sport Podcast.
“You need to be coaching a long time to be able to simplify things, there’s a real skill set in simplifying the game, they did a great job with that. I don’t know if I’d be there yet.”
Elsewhere, British eyes noted how all nations are represented on the coaching ticket apart from Wales. Farrell joked that Easterby played for the Scarlets and lives in Wales, but was more serious when outlining that representation plays no part in coach or player selection.
“Imagine not going on a Lions tour because someone thinks that somebody else not as good deserves a place because of the dynamics [of picking a spread of nationalities]. Surely that’s not fair.”
Unsurprisingly, little was given away on the specifics of the squad. While Caelan Doris and Maro Itoje are the public favourites, Farrell did say he was considering as many as six names for the captaincy.
He also offered a window into the upcoming selection process, including the relative importance of the recent Six Nations matches. “Some teams are the worst in the world or the best in the world after two rounds and then how they finish, they are now the best in the world or the worst in the world. I just have to make sure I am level-headed enough to just see the reality of it.
“The way I like to do it when you start getting to the point or near the point, you start to play devil’s advocate on everyone’s opinion and the truth definitely comes out then.”
The Coaches
Simon Easterby
Ireland’s interim head coach during this year’s Six Nations while Farrell was on his Lions sabbatical. Penned for Ireland’s summer tour of Georgia and Portugal only to be called up to lead the Lions’ defence. The only man on the coaching ticket with Lions playing experience having toured in 2005.
Andrew Goodman
A role with the Lions attack continues a remarkable rise for a man clearly rated by Farrell. Previously Leinster’s attack coach for two years before being promoted to replace Mike Catt in the Ireland set-up. Less than a year into that job, Farrell has hired him once again to travel down under. Intriguing coaching battle ahead with the Wallabies’ Joe Schmidt, given both men are famed for their set-piece strike moves. Schmidt was the one who gave Goodman a professional playing career in signing him for Leinster back in 2012.
John Fogarty
The self-professed “captain of craic,” Fogarty is both Ireland’s scrum chief and a key source of humour within the group, two roles he will be no doubt be expected to fill in Australia. Originally from Co Tipperary, the former Munster, Connacht and Leinster hooker is another to progress from the Leinster coaching ticket to Ireland, and now the Lions.
Richard Wigglesworth
England’s current attack coach, the former scrumhalf looks set to dovetail with Farrell and Goodman in the same area with the Lions. While Farrell maintained England’s final day demolition of Wales didn’t necessarily seal Wigglesworth’s credentials, overseeing an attack which scored 68 points can’t but have helped. Wigglesworth’s playing days overlapped with the start of Farrell’s coaching career at Saracens.
John Dalziel
The biggest unknown of the coaching group. The first challenge is learning how to pronounce his surname (Dee-el). A former backrow for Border Reivers, Dalziel has been Scotland’s forwards coach since 2020. With Fogarty taking the lead on scrums, Dalziel looks set to be in charge of lineouts and general forward play.
