Andy Farrell expected to be named Lions coach but it creates a dilemma for son Owen

Owen Farrell celebrates after kicking the crucial equaling penalty, during the 3rd and final test match between the All Blacks and the British and Irish Lions in 2017. Photo / Brett Phibbs

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There was a lovely moment on the 2013 Lions tour when Andy Farrell, then an assistant coach, was on the pitch shaking hands with his players after a match. As he got to the end of the line, he shook Owen’s hand, too, but could not resist giving his son an affectionate slap that in Wigan amounts to an overwhelming show of pride. Owen’s mortified reaction will be familiar to any parents who have intruded upon their teenager’s social circle.

The father-son dynamic between Andy and Owen must be the most unique in rugby history. They have gone from being team-mates, albeit for about a nanosecond, at Saracens, to Owen being coached by Andy as an assistant with both England and the Lions, to Andy coaching against Owen as Ireland head coach. Now the dynamic will change once more. For the first time Andy will potentially be in charge of selecting Owen when he is unveiled as the new Lions head coach on Thursday.

Potentially because at the present time, we do not know if Owen Farrell will be available for selection for the tour to Australia. In November, Saracens announced that he would be taking a break from international rugby “in order to prioritise his and his family’s mental health”. There was no end date on the break and the strong suggestions of a move to Racing 92 would indicate that Farrell is prepared to put his England commitments on the backburner for at least a couple of years.

The Lions are a different matter. Joining Racing 92 would not preclude Farrell from being called up as it would with England, although it would make things slightly more tricky. Firstly if the 32-year-old is in France then as the existing Rugby Football Union rules stand, he would not be playing international rugby, which is the traditional measuring stick for Lions selection. There are exceptions to the rule that you have to be a current international, such as Sam Simmonds in 2021, Shane Williams in 2013 and Will Greenwood in 1997, but they are vanishingly rare.

Second, the Premiership has moved its showpiece 2025 final forward to allow all the England-based players to join the squad in all the pre-tour activities, including a warm-up match against Argentina in Ireland on June 20, 2025. The tour officially kicks off against Western Force in Perth on June 28. This would grow complicated for Farrell if the 2025 Top 14 final falls on the last weekend of June, as it does this year, and Racing are involved. Other France-based players have previously been called up by the Lions, including Finn Russell on the last tour to South Africa, so Farrell’s possible late arrival would be a hindrance rather than an insurmountable obstacle.

There is, of course, an awful lot of rugby to be played before Farrell Snr even starts to ponder the endless permutations. Yet with all things being equal, his son would be right at the front of the queue for both the role of starting fly-half and captain. Jonathan Sexton and Dan Biggar, who between them have started eight of the past nine Lions Tests in the No 10 shirt, have both retired from international rugby. Neither has a clearly defined heir apparent at fly-half at Ireland and Wales. The captaincy situation is also in flux with Ireland, England and Wales.

Even before you consider his playing qualities, no other player comes close to matching Farrell’s strength of leadership or his breadth of experience for what would be his fourth Lions tour. In 2021, Farrell topped a vote by the Lions squad for whom they wanted on the leadership group. His uncompromising approach to setting high standards stretches back to his first Lions tour in 2013 when he was bawling out senior players.

“I think it’s funny that one of the youngest guys on the team, Owen Farrell, is the one that’s driving everyone on,” Ireland second row Paul O’Connell said at the time. “The guy is 22 years of age, barking at everyone, driving everyone around the pitch. We should all be doing it.”

That quality is precious in any context, but particularly in a Lions environment.

Farrell has spoken numerous times about what the pull of the red shirt means to him, but that will be counterbalanced by the heightened social media toxicity that surrounds Lions selection debates. Every Lions coach since time immemorial has been accused of varying degrees of bias, but this sadly would likely take on a new dimension with Andy Farrell selecting his son.

No one inside the Lions camp would see Owen in any way as a ‘nepo baby’, but as we heard following Owen’s suspension for his high tackle on Taine Basham in August, the ripples spread much further than the player.

“I’d probably get his mother up here to do an interview with you, and you’ll see the human side of the bulls--- that’s happening,” Farrell Snr said. “Or maybe get his wife to write a book on it, because then you’ll probably see the impact that it’s having on not just the professional player, but the families and the human side that goes with it.”

If Owen, Andy and their extended family decide to spare themselves another circus, no one would blame them, but it would be a huge loss for the Lions.