Ronan O’Gara names Andy Farrell’s ‘go-to’ player, singling him out with the coach as the ‘real combo story so far’ on the B&I Lions
British and Irish Lions' Jamison Gibson-Park looks on at scrum versus Queensland Reds
Ronan O’Gara has singled out Jamison Gibson-Park as Andy Farrell’s go-to player on the British and Irish Lions tour, claiming the scrum-half and head coach are the real combo of the 2025 tour so far.
Ireland No.9 Gibson-Park missed the Lions’ opening two matches due to a glute injury, a situation that resulted in Farrell starting Alex Mitchell against Argentina with Tomos Williams providing bench cover.
That Mitchell/Williams selection was reversed for last Saturday’s clash with Western Force but, with Gibson-Park now fit and Williams injured and replaced on the tour by Ben White, Farrell selected his Ireland half-back to start against Queensland Reds with Mitchell in reserve.
Gibson-Park didn’t run the show in the same dominant way that he can dictate with Farrell’s Ireland and with Leinster. His fluency wasn’t at its best given that he last played a match on June 7, but he did enough in his 51-minute appearance to get the Lions 28-12 ahead.
One of his final contributions was to take a snipe and offload in the resulting contact to usher skipper Maro Itoje in for a second-half try in the 52-14 win, and the way he generally assisted out-half Finn Russell through the game was also seen as significant.
‘They have achieved so much…’
Working as a pundit in Australia for Sky Sports, O’Gara, the La Rochelle coach who played on the 2001, 2005 and 2009 Lions tours, was adamant that this Lions will now revolve around Gibson-Park now that he was fit and able to make his first appearance.
“He has really hit the ground running. Obviously not with an Irish 10 being the dominant figure in the touring party, Gibson-Park will play that role for Andy Farrell. He’s his go-to man,” he explained.
“They have achieved so much in terms of game plan, in terms of flow, in terms of playing, in terms of playing with tempo, in terms of playing with kicking accuracy that Andy Farrell and Gibson-Park are the real, real combo story so far of this competition.
“With adding Finn Russell to that, you need your really clear picture, line of communication between coach, nine and 10.”
Dan Biggar, who was also on punditry duty with O’Gara, added: “You speak about Gibson-Park being the dominant figure, you look at Finn Russell’s form for Bath this season, it’s probably the best and most consistent we have seen Finn Russell play.
“Big reason for that is how Ben Spencer dominates a lot of the phases, takes a lot of pressure off Finn Russell, doesn’t allow Finn to get the ball in his hands every time, gives Finn the chance to just look up is there cross-field kick on, is there a dink, is there a tap and go etc.
“That is what Jamison Gibson-Park will allow Russell to do, to be really solid, to play really good rugby and help him in that sense.”
O’Gara replied: “A lot of 10s also appreciate it when the nine kicks from an exit point of view, when they take that responsibility.
“It may only be one in four times, but that means an awful lot to the No.10 that he isn’t always kind of like a sitting duck waiting for back rows to hammer into him, to make an exit on the pitch.
“We have seen Gibson-Park’s kicking game has really, really improved over the years. When he came to Ireland eight or 10 years ago, it was nowhere near where it is now. Now it’s a big weapon on every team he plays with.”
Biggar reckoned this emphasis on Gibson-Park will see Australia limit their blitz defence. “The way that controls the short side as well is a massive point. Australia have got a lot of blitz with a (Joseph) Sua’ali’i, with a (Hunter) Paisami potentially,
“Just taking a short side allows Australia not to blitz, and you find softer edges and you don’t put as much pressure on your 10. I thought it was a really solid hit out from Gibson-Park tonight.”
