Matt Williams ‘mystified’ by ‘worst ever’ Warren Gatland selection and identifies ‘100 per cent fact’ that turned current Lions boss Andy Farrell into a winner
British and Irish Lions boss Andy Farrell in Adelaide last Saturday
Former Leinster and Scotland boss Matt Williams has named the “worst selection” decision he has ever seen and identified what British and Irish Lions boss Andy Farrell did to transform himself into a winning coach with Ireland.
Williams, who now works as a rugby pundit, appeared on the Off the Ball Irish radio show this week ahead of this Saturday’s Lions Test series opener against the Wallabies in Brisbane.
During a segment about the potential Lions midfield for the first Test in Australia, he described the 2021 tour omission of Ireland’s Garry Ringrose by Warren Gatland as “mystifying”.
He also explained the reason why current Lions boss Farrell, with Ringrose unavailable for the 2025 series opener due to a concussion, will start with the all-Scottish pairing of Huw Jones and Sione Tuipulotu at the expense of Bundee Aki, Ringrose’s Ireland teammate.
“That guy has been so unlucky…”
Williams explained how positional cohesion has been to the forefront of Farrell’s thinking ever since he got a grip on the Ireland job and turned himself into a winning coach after an initial 18-month struggle in charge.
Asked about the potential Lions midfield for Brisbane, Williams began: “I’ll take you back to what Ian McGeechan used to tell me, he would call it teams within teams, and especially on a Lions tour where you have those little combinations of hookers and their props, locks, the back-row.
“If you go with McGeechan’s theory, the centres are a team within a team, those small little units. Garry Ringrose, if Garry is out, wow, that guy has been so unlucky. It’s the worst selection I have ever seen, him not going on the last tour to South Africa.
“It was just mystifying that he didn’t go to South Africa, and now he finally got it. You could see Garry had a spring in his step, was building great. I really feel for the dude. He should have two or three Lions caps under his belt before now but if he is out, they will go with the Scottish centre pairing.
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“Although Bundee had played very, very well, you saw Tuipulotu and Jones just combining so well against the Waratahs, and the first try was just beautiful deft of hand. Tuipulotu came into the line telling lies, telling lies, telling lies with the ball.
“He wasn’t going to pass it, wasn’t going to pass it and when he did, the Waratahs, there wasn’t a missed tackle, they just misread the whole scenario. So I do think that is the case [an all-Scottish pairing].
“But as far as guaranteeing that to your listeners, you can’t because Farrell… If you look at what Andy Farrell’s pedigree is as a coach, let’s remember the first two years of his (Ireland) reign, or just under, he wasn’t a winning coach and the team was playing poorly.
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“He adopted the Leinster style of play. There is no doubt about that, that is a 100 per cent fact and I admire him for it. This is not a criticism; this is praise. He selected predominantly Leinster players, and they played a Leinster game and that gave him cohesion.
“I just see on this Lions trip, you look at the number of Leinster players on this trip [14 following the recent call-ups of Jamie Osborne and Thomas Clarkson], it’s unbelievable. It is still going to be a predominantly Irish-selected side, and they will play a pretty Irish way of playing the game.”
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