Although it is a decision that can wait another couple of years, the British & Irish Lions CEO Ben Calveley has scarcely concealed the prevailing view that Andy Farrell is the favourite to assume the role of head coach for the tour to New Zealand in four years’ time.
The Lions favour continuity – witness how they rehired Ian McGeechan and Warren Gatland on previous tours – and after working as an assistant to the latter for the winning series in Australia in 2013 and the drawn series in New Zealand 2017, Farrell has now backed that up with another 2-1 triumph against the Wallabies.
Although Saturday’s rain-affected 22-12 defeat by the Wallabies took some of the gloss off the Lions’ achievement, and left them short of the declared objective to complete a series whitewash, Farrell’s reputation has clearly been enhanced in the eyes of the Lions hierarchy.
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“Since he has started full-time back in December, he has brought a real focus to the operation which has ultimately resulted in success on the field of play,” said Calveley of the Irish head coach.
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“He has done a great job and I have really enjoyed working with him. I think we will now give him a bit of time off. He can go back to Dublin and decompress a little bit and then he can start building for the autumn internationals in Ireland and building towards the World Cup in 2027.
“We wish him all the success with that. When it comes to our appointments for future tours, you mentioned 2029, we will start the process in about two years and I don’t think it would be right to comment on where it ends up, let’s see. But, certainly you’re right, he has put himself in a very strong position hasn’t he, let’s put it that way.”
Farrell himself had been predictably coy when asked in the aftermath of Saturday’s defeat whether he’d be interested in assuming the role again in two years’ time.
“Again, everyone knows what I think about this concept and I suppose that says it all. I love everything that the Lions is about and I’ve thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed the last eight weeks.
“There’s always ups and there’s always downs but the inner circle is a special place to be.”
In other words, yes?
“Well, read into that what you want but I suppose four years, there’s a long time between drinks isn’t there?”
Early in the tour, and up to the epic second Test when Farrell’s team sealed an unassailable 2-0 lead with the biggest comeback in Lions’ Test history when Hugo Keenan’s 80th-minute try earned a 29-26 victory, there had been some who were in a rush to judge and condemn this tour and these Wallabies.
There were even suggestions that the Lions should never tour here again, but not only did Calveley confirm that this had never been countenanced, he confirmed that this had been the most lucrative Lions tour to date, without divulging figures, and strongly indicated that they will be back in 12 years’ time.
“I would absolutely envisage returning to Australia. Just to be very clear, I know there’s been loads of speculation about whether that would be the case or not, but we’ve had a wonderful tour here, and it is a 100 per cent our ambition to return, and we would want the next one to be bigger and better than this one.
“Who knows what the calendar looks like in the future, but if nothing changes in terms of calendar configurations and so forth, then that would be the expectation, yes.”
Although this third Test win was something of another tactical coup by Joe Schmidt, and further evidence of their progress under him, the former Leinster and Ireland coach reiterated his intension to step down after next year’s Rugby Championship.
“I’m looking forward to Les Kiss coming in and taking over. I actually apologised to the players a little while ago, I bit one of their heads off and my son had had a bad day,” he revealed in reference to his son Luke, who has severe epilepsy.
“I can normally separate the two things but it does impact me when he’s had a bad day and so I know that I have a short enough shelf life and need to be more present at home. I haven’t been home for two months so as much as I just think they’re a great group of young men, there’s other things that I need to make sure I tick off.”
Asked how he thought history might judge this Lions team, Schmidt said: “It’s always difficult to say. Their first half and the first Test, that was as good as I’d seen them and I felt since then we’ve inched our way back into the series that they won.
“They’ll be judged as winners because that’s what happened. I know a lot of their players very, very well and have a lot of admiration for them. I rate their coaching staff highly and I tip my hat to what was a highly successful tour, and I’m delighted that we managed to get one back at least.”
