It seems that British and Irish Lions head coach Andy Farrell’s choices for his coaching staff this summer haven’t been approved by everyone. On Wednesday, the 49-year-old confirmed his five-man team, with the playing squad to be announced at the O2 Arena on May 8.
As expected, Farrell has remained loyal to his Ireland coaching colleagues. Simon Easterby, who served as the Irish interim boss for the 2025 Six Nations, is on board alongside attack guru Andrew Goodman and scrum specialist John Fogarty. Scotland forwards coach John Dalziel and England senior coach Richard Wigglesworth make up Farrell’s list of five assistants.
Ex-scrum half Wigglesworth, who won 33 caps for his country, has worked alongside Steve Borthwick in the England set-up since the end of 2023. However, after being unveiled, he revealed his daughter was left angered by the manner in which he received the news.
“It was last Monday and I was back on dad duties after the Six Nations,” he said. “My five-year-old daughter, Margo, wanted to play outside so I was kicking a ball about with her, saw Faz’s (Farrell) name pop up and thought I best answer this.
“She wasn’t happy. He was obviously wittering on a bit so she wasn’t happy with how long the conversation was. But he eventually got around to it and asked me, and I think there were a fair few expletives and some other stuff. But, incredible moment.”
Indeed, despite his child’s discontent, the 41-year-old also spoke of his delight at being selected. And he admitted he was struggling to stay calm as he sat alongside Dalziel at the unveiling.
“I have to suppress it (my smile) because I’d be doing cartwheels on the stage with how I feel,” he added. “Incredibly proud to get the call. Like all of us, I can’t wait to get going and work with the group of players. Hopefully, we get them to play as well as they can and have a great outcome.”
Farrell said the coaching team had already begun working towards the opening match, the Lions 1888 Cup clash against Argentina in Dublin on Friday, June 20. The opening tour match will be held eight days later in Perth against the Western Force.
