ANDY FARRELL’S LIONS coaching team, confirmed this morning, is a mix of faces familiar to the Ireland boss alongside some less obvious inclusions.

Simon Easterby, Andrew Goodman, and John Fogarty all join from the Ireland set-up, while England’s Richard Wigglesworth and Scotland’s John Dalziel – the first ‘bolters’ of the 2025 Lions tour – are also on board. All five will be part of a Lions coaching team for the first time. Add in the previously confirmed appointments of Ireland’s head of athletic performance Aled Walters, head of analysis Vinny Hammond and former IRFU performance director David Nucifora, and there is a distinctly IRFU feel to Farrell’s staff.

The exact individual roles of Farrell’s coaches has not been confirmed and while it’s easy enough to work out who will be doing what, there is flexibility to this coaching team, with Farrell himself highlighting how the group “has versatility and are interchangeable in their skillset.”

As he does in his capacity as Ireland boss, Farrell will be hands on in running the show as his assistants add their own flavour to the overall picture.

Take Goodman, who comes on board to help run the Lions attack less than a year after joining Farrell’s Ireland camp. The New Zealander arrived to take charge of Leinster’s attack in 2022 having built a strong reputation during his time with the Crusaders. Two years later he succeeded Mike Catt as Ireland attack coach and a year down the line he’s landed another promotion.

Andy Farrell. Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO

The appointment is an interesting one because Goodman has yet to really get Ireland’s attack firing. While highly-rated in the Ireland set-up, his first full window with the squad saw Ireland’s attack struggle to ignite across the November 2024 Tests. There were encouraging signs of progress across the early rounds of this year’s Six Nations before Ireland’s championship fizzled out to a disappointing end, and Ireland’s attack remains a going concern.

With Ireland, Goodman’s work initially focused on Ireland’s set-piece strike launch plays and specific work with the backline before he took on more responsibility around the overall attack during Farrell’s absence in the Six Nations. With the Lions Farrell will mastermind the attack again as Goodman adds his touches into the overall gameplan.

It takes Goodman away from Ireland’s summer tour to Georgia and Portugal, where Easterby will also be a notable absentee as Paul O’Connell steps in to serve as Ireland’s second stand-in head coach of the year.

As Ireland’s interim head coach during the Six Nations, Easterby had previously been confirmed to hold the reins for the summer tour but those plans have now changed as he links up with the Lions to take charge of the defence. That suggests Farrell might have had somebody else in mind for the role, with Felix Jones, now back with the Springboks, and France defence coach Shaun Edwards both touted as potential options.

Farrell and Easterby have been working together with Ireland since 2016 so Farrell knows exactly what he’s getting from the former Ireland flanker – who started two Tests on the 2005 Lions tour to New Zealand.

Farrell has a similarly long-standing relationship with Fogarty, who he appointed as Ireland scrum coach in 2020, and was the anticipated choice for this tour.

He goes back even further with Wigglesworth, who Farrell coached with both Saracens and England before he crossed the water to sign up with the IRFU.

Richard Wigglesworth. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO

Wigglesworth’s stock has risen significantly in recent months. The former scrum-half joined Steve Borthwick’s England set-up in 2023, overseeing the attack, and was promoted to senior coach last year in the wake of Felix Jones’ surprise resignation. Wigglesworth’s inclusion had been flagged in recent days but less than two weeks ago, following England’s defeat of Wales, Borthwick stated there had been no contact from Farrell regarding bringing any of his coaches to Australia.

With Goodman expected to look after the launch-plays and Farrell shaping the overall attack, Wigglesworth’s main focus may be around kicking and skills.

The most surprising inclusion was that of Scotland forwards coach John Dalziel. O’Connell had been viewed as the frontrunner, although previously talked down his chances of going on tour.

Dalziel has two decades of coaching behind him, coaching the Scotland U20s and Sevens before working as an assistant with Glasgow Warriors and joining the Test side in August 2020. There isn’t exactly a clutch of Scotland forwards pushing for Lions selection but Dalziel has helped improve their breakdown and lineout work – Scotland won more lineouts than any other team in this year’s championship. 

As the sole Scot on a coaching ticket which also contains one Englishman and four IRFU employees – and the only coach with no previous experience of working with Farrell – Dalziel’s outside perspective could prove valuable. 

While there is a fresh look to this Lions coaching team, most of Farrell’s assistants will arrive in camp with a clear understanding of how their head coach operates. The real work starts now.