Andy Farrell has called up his son Owen to join the British & Irish Lions squad in Australia as a replacement for Elliot Daly, who has been ruled out of the tour with a broken forearm. Farrell Jr, consequently, will feature on his fourth Lions expedition at the age of 33 and is due to join the squad on Friday.
With 112 caps for England and six Lions Test appearances, Farrell unquestionably has big-game experience a relentless competitive edge. He has endured an injury-plagued Top 14 season at Racing 92, however, and has not played international rugby since the end of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
In January last year Farrell announced he was stepping away from Test rugby to “prioritise his and his family’s mental wellbeing”, but his father suggested when the squad was announced that the door could yet reopen.
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Daly’s injury has now activated that call with Farrell Sr saying: “It is heartbreaking for the group that Elliot’s Tour is over. He is a Lions legend who has added so much to the group on and off the field over the past few weeks and over the course of three Tours.
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“Owen will now come in and add to our options.”
From a practical perspective Farrell Jr offers an extra set of tactical eyes, the ability to operate at 10 and 12, and plentiful goal-kicking expertise. His call-up is a calculated risk, even so, because of the jolt it will deliver to the squad’s other outhalves at a critical stage of the tour.
It also raises the question of whether Farrell Sr is entirely happy with all aspects of the buildup to the Test series. The versatile Daly was one of only three players on the trip who toured New Zealand in 2017, the last time Lions fans were allowed into the stadiums. The head coach believes the level of attention around the Test series will be on another level to anything the younger tour members have previously experienced.
With his Saracens teammate Maro Itoje the captain, Farrell will certainly be warmly welcomed into the fold by his erstwhile England colleagues. On the flipside it may raise doubts over Finn Russell’s status as the senior outhalf and could be interpreted as a lack of faith in youthful alternatives such as Marcus Smith and Finn Smith should Russell ever be sidelined. The Scotland fly-half was replaced after 51 minutes against the Reds but Farrell Sr stressed there were no injury concerns.
Those who know Farrell best, though, have long since admired his influence in the dressing room. “He turned into our head coach, he is that good,” the former Saracens and England captain Jamie George once said. “With his voice, with his actions, in the week the way he prepares, he shows people how it is done. I can’t speak highly enough of him. He is the best player I have worked with in every facet of the game.”
England, however, opted not to take Farrell on tour to Argentina, where George Ford is set to win his 100th Test cap this weekend. The 32-year-old was also in fine form during the latter stages of the domestic Premiership season with Sale but, for now, has been passed over once again by the Lions.
The touring team face the NSW Waratahs in Sydney this Saturday, the day after Farrell Jr arrives, and will be led by the second-row Tadhg Beirne. The Toulouse and Scotland fullback Blair Kinghorn gets his first start since joining the squad this week, albeit on the wing to accommodate the Ireland number 15, Hugo Keenan. Glasgow’s Huw Jones is the only player retained from the victory over Queensland Reds and partners his Scotland and club teammate Sione Tuipulotu in the centres. Fin Smith holds the reins at No 10 alongside his Northampton teammate Alex Mitchell.
Henry Pollock will shift from number 8 to the blindside flank in a back row completed by Josh van der Flier and Ben Earl.
LIONS (v NSW Waratahs): Hugo Keenan (Ireland); Mack Hansen (Ireland), Huw Jones (Scotland), Sione Tuipulotu (Scotland), Blair Kinghorn (Scotland); Fin Smith (England), Alex Mitchell (England); Pierre Schoeman (Scotland), Luke Cowan-Dickie (England), Finlay Bealham (Ireland); Tadhg Beirne (Ireland, capt), James Ryan (Ireland); Henry Pollock (England), Josh van der Flier (Ireland), Ben Earl (England).
Replacements: Dan Sheehan (Ireland), Ellis Genge (England), Tadhg Furlong (Ireland), Joe McCarthy (Ireland), Scott Cummings (Scotland), Jac Morgan (Wales), Ben White (Scotland), Marcus Smith (England).
