'Fit and available': Furlong in contention for Lions duty

Furlong, 32, played 33 minutes in his 79th Ireland cap at Stadio Olimpico having managed just 168 minutes across three games for his province prior to that this season. 

His previous Ireland appearances had been starts in the drawn series against South Africa last July.

Yet in the mind of Fogarty, the Ireland scrum coach named as an assistant for the 2025 Lions tour to Australia on Wednesday, should not be ruled out of the selection discussion when the coaching group led by Andy Farrell sits down to thrash out the touring party for a nine-match tour highlighted by three Tests against the Wallabies.

Having not joined the Leinster squad on their current URC tour to South Africa, Furlong’s next possible appearance will be the Champions Cup Round of 16 knockout tie against Harlequins at Croke Park on Saturday, April 5, leaving the 2017 and 2021 Lions Test starter only five possible matches to prove his worth ahead of the squad announcement scheduled for May 8.

Asked on Wednesday about Furlong’s recent comeback in Rome and his potential as a summer tourist, Fogarty said: “He’s fit and available. He’s someone who if he is playing and playing to the right levels and his body’s good, then why not?

“He has done a tour. He is a world class player, so let’s see. We will be watching closely over the next few weeks and months and I think it is important that we do that - we watch closely and we make the right decisions.” 

Fogarty said the precise number of props the Lions would select for the tour had not been finalised but with front-rowers being asked to back up from midweek to Saturday matches in the early stages of the tour as well as a Tuesday night game against a First Nations and Pasifika XV in Melbourne between the first and second Tests there will be a lot asked of the players who travel.

“I guess for me there’s a bit of figuring that out,” the scrum coach said. “On the last tour they took four hookers.

“We have had discussions now around you will have a game on the Saturday, you’ll have a game on the Wednesday and you’ll have a game on the following Saturday. So you will have two front rows involved. If you only have one more left how does that look the following Wednesday and how do we get our reps in?

“Those discussions are happening right now. We went through some scheduling and Andy has tasked us with seeing how we can fit that in so myself and (forwards coach) John Dalziel are going to link up over the next couple of days and talk a little bit more on things like that: what’s the right number and how can we make that work so we can properly prepare a Saturday team and a Wednesday team.

“We have our own ideas, it is just putting us in the same room and getting that down on paper. I am not sure what the number is going to be just yet.” 

The suggestion is, though, that front-rowers with multiple skill-sets and flexibility to pack down on both sides of the scrum or at hooker and prop, will be at a premium for the Lions.

“There’s not too many (who can play both sides),” Fogarty said. “Cian Healy was such a pleasure to have because he could play tighthead, loosehead and hooker with Ireland.

“There’s not a huge amount. I know Asher (Opoku-Fordjour) at Sale, he plays a bit of both sides. He has done both. We will see. I know Andrew Porter has done both but he has been a loosehead for the last while. Something like that is valuable isn’t it?

“We’ll see what the number is. Andy will guide me with what the number should be and people need to be adaptable on a tour like this. It is so exciting and it is such a good opportunity to try out all these things as well.”