‘I couldn’t tell the full story’ – Andy Farrell opens up on Owen’s Lions selection
'I couldn't tell the full story - Andy Farrell opens up on Owen's Lions selection
Andy Farrell’s upcoming Autobiography, The Only Way I Know, is set to reveal many interesting truths behind the great rugby man.
An extract from the book was recently published in The Times, with the head coach speaking about the moment he asked his son Owen to join the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour.
It was one of the most controversial calls in Lions history, with accusations of nepotism echoing around Britain and Ireland. However, others were fully in support of the decision to call the four-time tourist into the squad, arguing that despite his substandard time in France with Racing 92, Farrell had the skill level, experience and leadership needed for the test series.
As history will tell you, the call was correct, but it wasn’t an easy one to make, and it came a lot earlier than was made public.
“There had to be no bias whatsoever,” said the head coach. “And that included the consideration of whether to pick Owen (From the start of the tour).
“I couldn’t shy away from that decision professionally. I wanted to bring him, despite his difficult and injury-disrupted season in Paris. I knew he would add the type of leadership skills we would need with a squad containing only a handful of players who had been on the last proper Lions tour in 2017, when there were midweek matches.
“This would be Owen’s fourth tour, including the last one in Australia in 2013. I knew he would get it immediately and would help bring the best out of the others around him. Every other coach favoured picking Owen too.”
Approaching Owen
Aware of the backlash that naming Owen in the squad could cause, Andy had to approach the situation carefully.
“Ordinarily, that would have been it: we would have simply named him along with the others. But I knew it was not yet a done deal. I told the coaches I would have to ring Owen first. I needed to know whether he wanted to go and what he thought about stepping back into the international spotlight after all he had to put up with during the 2023 World Cup,” he added.
“This was a very hard phone call. When I asked Owen if he would come, he broke down in tears. He said he did not think it would be right for him, for the squad, or for me as head coach.
“It was a tough thing to hear. I told him to think it through, to take his time, and if he changed his mind, then I would put him on the standby list to cover an injury.
“At the press conference at the O2 arena, after my appearance on stage, I was asked if Owen had been under consideration. Obviously, I didn’t feel I could tell the full story.”
As the summer showed, Owen did eventually accept the call-up, and not a minute too soon. Joining the group shortly before the Test matches, Owen had just two opportunities to get some much-needed gametime under his belt, but showed his class almost instantaneously.
Although he wasn’t selected for the first Test, he was used as a substitute in both the second and third, as the Lions went on to win their first series in 12 years.
