Andy Farrell will be top of the Lions hitlist when they start the hunt for the man to coach them in New Zealand in 2029.
Farrell, who oversaw the 2-1 series win in Australia, refused to rule out a return to the hot seat after his side’s 22-12 defeat to the Wallabies on Saturday in Sydney.
The head coach has impressed Lions bosses with the way he has operated since taking leave from Ireland in December to concentrate on the tour.
And CEO Ben Calveley admitted Farrell had built a convincing case to get given the gig against the All Blacks.
Calveley said: “He has put himself in a very strong position hasn’t he? Andy’s done an incredible job. He has brought a real focus to the operation which has ultimately resulted in success on the field of play.
“When it comes to our appointments for future tours, we will start the process in about two years so let’s see.”
From the start of the tour Farrell united the mixture of Irish, English, Scottish and Welsh players to aim for a common goal of winning the series, which they ticked off before slipping to defeat at the weekend.
Chairman Ieuan Evans, a three-time Lion as a player and winner of two series, added: “The leading coaches are cultural architects. These tours are not designed to be easy to win and compete in.
“You expect talent and hard work to come to the fore because of the players of this sort of quality do not get to where they are without it. But you need the culture to allow and Andy is exceptional at that.”
