Owen Farrell’s arrival makes life too messy for Lions

Answer this honestly. If the British & Irish Lions were playing the Wallabies tomorrow, would the current version of Owen Farrell make the Test squad? The answer is no.

Finn Russell is the imminent starter at fly-half, Farrell’s position. The sight of Russell icing his wrist after coming off during Wednesday’s 52-12 win over the Queensland Reds made you wonder if there should be greater cause for concern. But Russell is fine according to Andy Farrell, the Lions’ head coach (and Owen’s father). Which leaves you with a healthy Russell, a true rival in Fin Smith and the versatile Marcus Smith as the Lions’ fly-half contenders, now joined by the 33-year-old Farrell.

Farrell snr, in his Thursday press conference confirming Owen’s arrival and the end of Elliot Daly’s tour due to a fractured forearm, suggested the Lions were a little vulnerable at 12 given there are only two specialist inside centres in the squad in Bundee Aki and Sione Tuipulotu, with Owen offering cover in that area.

That lack of depth was clearly not as much of an issue when Farrell selected his original squad for the tour, otherwise he would have found a way to include an extra inside centre. Daly, the most versatile of Lions, covered a lot of positions but not 12. Now apparently is the right time to fix a previously unannounced issue and, even then, Farrell would be the third-choice option at 12.

Which all makes you wonder if the Lions have actually added an extra coach to their squad, rather than an extra player. To be clear, and some will dispute this, Owen Farrell has been one of England’s greatest-ever players and leaders. The true “Test match animal”. Team-mates and coaches working for England adored him, his obsession with winning, how he raised the standards of everyone around him. An astonishing career packed with silverware has also included three Lions tours and six Test caps for the Lions.

Notice a trend there? All of that high praise for Farrell is linked to his past, not his present. He has not played Test rugby since the 2023 Rugby World Cup. His single season in France with Racing 92, hampered by injury, was unfortunately a grand failure, leading to a hasty return to Saracens a few weeks ago. He is not in good form, or any form for that matter. On linking up with the squad in Sydney, Farrell still had to complete the final stage of return-to-play protocols following a concussion.

Take all of that into account and Farrell feels like a luxury call-up. His greatest impact will most likely come off the field, not on it, brought in to replace Daly’s experience without possessing the same positional versatility. That said, the idea of Farrell dutifully carrying out a reserve role feels strange. He is a truly insane competitor, his presence alone enough to have Russell and Fin Smith looking over their shoulders. Some careful man-management is required.

Perhaps the strangest part is that the Lions already have an incredibly similar motivator to Farrell in Johnny Sexton, the retired Ireland fly-half on tour as an assistant coach. Farrell snr has now opted to double-down by adding a similar personality.

There is certainly value in having someone with as much Lions experience as Farrell in your squad. There were also undeniably stronger contenders from a playing perspective including Tom Jordan, the versatile Scotland back coming off a great Six Nations who covers 10, 12 and 15. George Ford is comfortably in better form than Farrell, but instead of being in Australia was winning his 100th cap for England against Argentina last night. Andy Farrell insisted that the Lions “have enough full-backs” with Hugo Keenan, Blair Kinghorn and plenty of cover, and he’s right. But the door was open for Darcy Graham, the better Scotland winger this season ahead of Duhan van der Merwe, to take up a deserved spot in the squad and push for Test involvement.

The early tour wins over the Western Force and Reds were, after some early hiccups, perhaps a ­little too ­straightforward. Struggling for long patches in yesterday’s 21-10 win over a surprisingly competitive Waratahs outfit – aside from the scrum – will have given Andy Farrell plenty to chew on. Alex Mitchell continues to put pressure on Jamison Gibson-Park for the scrum-half berth. Scott Cummings, a late starter with Henry Pollock ruled out, bounced back well from a tough game last time out against the Force.

It must be tempting as the Lions head coach, when you have little time to mesh together players from four countries, to simply go with combinations which you know already work well. Tuipulotu and Huw Jones – or Huwipulotu – are midfield partners for Glasgow and Scotland and you could see that connection with how they linked up for the Lions’ opening try, Jones’ first of a double. Do you pick Huwipulotu with Russell at No 10 and keep a successful unit for Scotland together? Maybe.

Now the build-up turns to Wednesday’s game against the Brumbies in Canberra and whether Owen Farrell will play, with Andy Farrell suggesting it may come too soon. The nepotism debate has always felt lazy and should not be taken ­seriously. But while Farrell has been an outstanding player, the timing of his Lions return feels off. It should not feel this messy.