Of all the players that have ever pulled on a British and Irish Lions jersey, none knew head coach Andy Farrell better as a player than Jason Robinson, who is backing his former team-mate to thrive in Australia next year.
Be it for Wigan, England or Great Britain in rugby league or England in rugby union, Robinson and Farrell ran out alongside each other hundreds of times.
So while Robinson does not know Andy Farrell the coach, he knew Andy Farrell the player very well, and believes he has the leadership qualities that are needed on a Lions tour.
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Speaking at Canterbury’s launch of the 2025 Lions jersey, Robinson, a Lions tourist in 2001 and 2005, hailed the Ireland boss as one of the best players he ever played with, but highlighted the manner in which he commands respect from a squad.
“My old mate from Wigan, Andy Farrell, definitely one of the best players I’ve ever played with,” the World Cup winner said.
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“Leader, coach and just to be able to play all of those different roles, to be one of the boys but then to have the respect of the boys to lead them, I think is a great skill. I think just having him there at the helm will be great for the Lions.
“It will be great for the supporters because it’s one of those, he’ll sit and talk to anybody and give them the time of the day, but at the same time he will demand the utmost from the players and that’s what’s going to make next year’s Lions so special.”
Tommy Bowe, a tourist in 2009 and 2011, shared Robinson’s view, and believes Farrell’s rugby league ethos is what makes him such a standout coach.
“I think Andy Farrell is the perfect person to lead the Lions,” the former Ireland winger said at the kit launch.
“You can see what he’s doing with Ireland at the moment. It’s going to be really interesting to see Andy Farrell going up against Joe Schmidt, obviously they were both coaching alongside each other with Ireland. So that’s going to be a really interesting battle.
“But what I love about Andy is that he’s got the rugby league ethos, there’s a real hard school edge to him he’s brought forward to union. But what he’s ingrained is the values of what rugby is. And you can see that within the Ireland setup.”
Bowe emphasised what a unique situation a Lions tour is, citing his relationship with Farrell’s son, Owen, as an example of this, but said he expects Andy to bring the tour back to “old school” values to unite the squad.
“When you think about the Lions, it’s four countries coming together, players who are literally knocking lumps out of each other what could be just two, three weeks before that,” he added.
“I remember I turned up, it’s like the Irish, the Scottish and the Welsh and the fecking English. You walk in, and you’re like ‘Uh, Owen Farrell, what’s he really going to be like?’ But then you go and you room with him and he’s just this great down-to-earth guy. Somebody you have such battles with on the pitch, but you come together and you’re a team together and you enjoy a pint, I think Andy Farrell will bring it back to the old school values of going and having a drink together, spending time off the pitch getting to know each other and getting to know what makes each other tick.
“If you do that, that’s what will make it work on the pitch and I think that’s the ethos of what the Lions is. If you can all get together and bond off the pitch, it will all come together on it and that’s where I think Andy Farrell is the perfect man for it.”
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