Andy Farrell says Lions will aid Ireland as Paul O’Connell steps up
Lions head coach Andy Farrell with assistant coach John Fogarty. Pic: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
Andy Farrell insisted taking the majority of his Ireland coaches with him to Australia as British & Irish Lions assistants this summer will enhance the national side rather than diminish the forthcoming tour to Georgia and Portugal.
Simon Easterby, Andrew Goodman, and John Fogarty were unveiled in London on Wednesday morning to help head coach Farrell meet his objective of victory over Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies in the nine-game, three-Test tour across July and August alongside England’s Richard Wigglesworth and Scotland’s John Dalziel.
Easterby, Ireland’s defence coach and interim head coach role in Farrell’s absence on Lions secondment, had been named to continue that temporary posting beyond the recent Six Nations campaign and into the summer when a squad with a development feel to it will play the Georgians in Tbilisi on July 5 and Portugal a week later in Lisbon.
Now that task falls to forwards coach Paul O’Connell, a former Lions captain, who is expected to lead a coaching group formed mostly from the Ireland A staff appointed for the February 24 fixture against England A in Bristol. Munster attack coach Mike Prendergast was head coach at Ashton Gate supported by Connacht’s Ulster-bound attack coach Mark Sexton and Leinster contact skills coach Sean O’Brien and the IRFU said on Wednesday it would confirm its coaching staff for the tour next week.
While O’Connell seemed the most obvious of choices for his Lions management given his three-tour experience as a player, Farrell on Wednesday said the Munster and Ireland legend’s role for this summer had long been clear and obvious to him.
“Myself and Paul are not only colleagues, we’re good mates, we speak most days,” Farrell said, “so the conversations that we've had, the dynamics in regards to all that has been ongoing over the last three or four years, last 18 months, etc, conversations were obvious to us where that was leading. So it became clear and obvious.”
With four of the Ireland coaching staff now in Lions tracksuits in addition to video analyst Vinny Hammond and head of strength and conditioning Aled Walters, Farrell was asked directly whether the Irish tour would be now diminished as a result.
“I understand that. I understand why you are asking the question. But I would say, first and foremost, it gives me great pleasure that the IRFU are of 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 & Irish lions hat on.
“I've absolutely no doubt, it's one of the reasons why I jumped 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.
“So it gives me great satisfaction that the IRFU were aligned to the same type of thinking as well. And then the dynamics of what's happened, or 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 said he would continue to have a role in Ireland’s tour planning and also refuted the suggestion the national team’s tour at the midway point in the World Cup cycle was undermined by the absence of so many coaches.
“I don’t think it makes it more difficult. Faz went away during the Six Nations and it allowed me to step up for that period, gain other experiences similarly to what will happen when Ireland go to Georgia and Portugal.
“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. For us it’s more seeing the opportunity as opposed to the challenge.”
Like his fellow assistants named yesterday, Easterby said the offer to coach the Lions was not one he could turn down yet he admitted his appointment to the Lions, whom he represented as a player on the ill-fated 2005 tour to New Zealand, had not stopped him preparing for Georgia and Portugal alongside O’Connell and IRFU performance director David Humphreys.
“I don’t think I’ve stopped that, I’ve just shifted my focus a little bit. I’ll still be involved in that planning, 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 Humphreys, Paul, and getting that sorted before we start to focus fully on the Lions.”
