Andy Farrell: Five things to know about the new British and Irish Lions head coach

Andy Farrell has officially been unveiled as the new head coach of the British and Irish Lions, taking over from Warren Gatland.

The Englishman has enjoyed immense success with Ireland since 2020 and now takes on his next challenge as the additional side looks to secure a Series victory in Australia.

Following his appointment, here are five things to know about Farrell.

Playing career

A dual international, Farrell played rugby league and union for England, and while he never represented the British and Irish Lions, he did earn 34 caps for Great Britain in the 13-man code.

A talented player, he rose through the ranks at his home club, Wigan, earning his first-team debut at the age of 16 and won his first trophy – the Challenge Cup at 17 years and 11 months. His performances for Wigan did not go unnoticed as he made his England debut against New Zealand in 1993 at just 18 years old.

The following year, he would earn selection for Great Britains and featured in all three of the Ashes Tests of the 1994 Kangaroo tour. He would go on to enjoy a trophy-laden league career, winning seven RFL/Super League titles, five Challenge Cups and Rugby League Premiership titles during his career with Wigan, as well as a World Club Challenge and eight other trophies. On the international stage, he also won a Rugby League World Cup in 1995.

After 370 appearances for Wigan, Farrell announced his retirement from rugby league in order to take up a contract with Premiership side Saracens in 2005.

His code switch to union was riddled with injuries, which not only delayed his debut for Saracens but limited him to just 28 games for the club between 2005 and 2009.

After a running of good form and fitness in 2006, Farrell earned his Test debut for England in their first 2007 Six Nations match against Scotland.

He would retain his place in the England squad throughout the year as he was selected to represent his country at the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France, helping the side reach the final.

In 2008, he was named as one of the co-captains for Saracens under new head coach Eddie Jones in what proved to be his final year as a player. He announced his retirement at the end of the 2008/09 season and immediately took up a coaching role at the club.

Stepping into the coaching box

He made an immediate impact as a coach at the Premiership club, and by the end of 2010, he was promoted to a position with the first team.

In 2011, he was added to the England coaching staff, taking up a role under head coach Stuart Lancaster ahead of the 2012 Six Nations. Later that year, he was offered a full-time role with England but turned it down to remain with Saracens instead. However, he would eventually leave Saracens to take up a permanent role with England, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract in June 2012.

Farrell was added to Warren Gatland’s coaching staff for the 2013 British and Irish Lions tour to Australia, where he was hugely successful as the tourist’s defence coach. It was his first involvement with the Lions, with his coaching heavily praised as the side secured a 2-1 Series victory Down Under with his ‘hurt arena’ speech inspiring a series-clinching win.

"We are taking them boys to the hurt arena!"

With tomorrow the six year anniversary of the third and decisive Test in 2013, what better way to get your #FridayFeeling than listening to the message Andy Farrell had for the team the night before the game in Sydney! pic.twitter.com/toL2c5V3C2

— British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) July 5, 2019

Despite his success with the Lions, he was unable to retain his job with England after their failed home Rugby World Cup campaign, which led to Lancaster’s resignation and his successor, Eddie Jones, sacking the remaining coaching staff.

Bouncing back in Ireland and a second shot with the Lions

In January 2016, Farrell joined Joe Schmidt’s Ireland coaching team again in the role as defence coach.

Again, he had success as Ireland claimed their first-ever win over the Springboks in South Africa, and later that same year, they defeated New Zealand for the first time in their history.

In 2017, he linked up with Gatland again to tour with the Lions in New Zealand, where he led the side’s defence.

The All Blacks were the more fancied side heading into the three-Test Series, but again, Farrell’s defence was a standout part of the Lions’ performances as they drew the series 1-1.

He enjoyed more success with Schmidt in 2018 as Ireland sealed a Six Nations Grand Slam and claimed a first win over the All Blacks on home soil.

In Schmidt’s final year in charge, the Irish Rugby Union announced that Farrell would be taking over as Ireland’s head coach in 2020. Despite Ireland’s fine form ahead of the World Cup, they would under-perform, losing in the pool stages to Japan and exiting the competition in the quarter-finals falling to New Zealand.

First head coach role

After the 2019 Rugby World Cup, he officially assumed the Ireland head coach job, his first head coach role.

His first year in charge of the side was interrupted by Covid as the side would finish the delayed Six Nations championship in third place.

They would finish the tournament in the same position a year later after losses to Wales and France but claimed a 29-20 victory over New Zealand.

In 2022, Farrell’s side lost their round two Six Nations clash to France, which ultimately cost them the title, finishing as runners-up despite beating Wales, England, and Scotland to clinch the Triple Crown and defeating Italy.

After the disappointment of the Six Nations, Farrell’s charges wrote themselves into the history books, claiming a historic 2-1 series victory over the All Blacks in New Zealand. They lost the opening Test in Auckland but bounced back to win Dunedin and Wellington.

The second victory sent Ireland to the top of the World Rugby rankings for just the second time in their history and sparked a remarkable run of wins.

They beat South Africa, Fiji and Australia in November 2022 and kicked started 2023 with a maiden Six Nations title under Farrell, defeating Wales, France, Italy, Scotland and finally England to seal the Grand Slam at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

After winning their three warm-up games and their four pool stages games at the World Cup, Farrell’s side were on the cusp of equalling England and New Zealand’s record of 18 consecutive victories. However, Ireland came undone in the quarter-final, losing 24-28 to the All Blacks.

Family and coaching with and against his son

Andy Farrell married his Colleen McLoughlin in 1995, who he now has four children with including His eldest son, Owen Farrell.

Owen is well-known to the rugby public and played on the same team as Andy during the latter stages of Andy’s Saracens career.

Andy would coach his son at Saracens, England and the British and Irish Lions. He has faced off against his son on multiple occasions, with Owen playing for and captaining England during Andy’s time with Ireland.

While Andy has a plethora of trophies under his belt as a coach and player, he also received an OBE in 2004 for services to rugby league.

He will now look to add to that tally as he attempts to remain unbeaten as a British and Irish Lions coach.

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