I know Owen Farrell has his spark back – his Lions call-up could be a masterstroke

Telegraph

a day ago

Just over two weeks ago, I sat down with Owen Farrell to discuss his return to Saracens after a tumultuous season in Paris.
It was a new Owen Farrell, far removed from the troubled soul who felt it was necessary to walk away from playing for England, something he loved so dearly, for the sake of his mental health.
The glint was back in his eye. He told me he wanted to start enjoying his rugby again and felt the best way to find a new start was coming back home. He was still recovering from some lingering concussion symptoms that had forced him to miss Racing 92's last six games in the Top 14, but was delighted to be training again.
He couldn't wait for the start of the new season with Saracens. But significantly, when I asked him if he would be ready to answer the call if his father, Andy, the Lions head coach, got in touch during the tour, it seemed that fresh start could come sooner than expected.
Farrell could have dismissed out of hand a return to the international stage, given the experience he endured during the 2023 World Cup including the furore that accompanied his red card for a high tackle on Taine Basham in the warm-up game against Wales.
He was eventually banned for England's first two games in France, but the fallout over the process, which included World Rugby appealing against the independent disciplinary's decision to downgrade the challenge to a yellow card, had in Farrell's words, created the 'perfect storm' including booing by supporters when he had served his two-match ban.
There is no bigger stage in international rugby than playing for the Lions, but Farrell signposted that he was ready to return if required.
'It is all very hypothetical, isn't it?' he said at the time. 'A lot would need to happen, and I need to make sure I am ready to go if that does come around. That is the only point that matters.'
The only other point that mattered is that Farrell senior had him on the radar long before the squad was announced on May 8. 'Owen was in the conversation obviously, an experienced player like that, looking for his fourth tour and with his leadership qualities,' Andy Farrell said. But it got to a point, like with a few others, where he is still trying to find his way back to fitness.
'There are 38 picked which leaves a couple of slots open for us down the track, if and when needed. Owen and a few other guys would be in that type of bracket.'
For that reason, as soon as Elliot Daly was injured in the victory over Queensland Reds on Wednesday night, suffering a suspected fractured arm, the prospect of calling up Farrell junior came first to mind.
In this post-match press conference, Andy Farrell insisted that they still had plenty of full-back cover, with Hugo Keenan and Blair Kinghorn in the squad, even if neither have yet played again.
But what the squad would miss, if Daly's tour was brought to a cruel premature end, was his experience as a three-times tourist. As his replacement, Farrell will not only provide cover at fly-half and inside centre, and bring big-game goal-kicking skills, but also that priceless knowledge of what it takes to win a Lions tour in Australia, having been part of Warren Gatland's 2013 series victory.
It might be a tough call-up for Marcus Smith, but the Farrell/Farrell father-and-son dynamic has always been utterly professional. It is certain that Farrell junior's selection will have also have had support from key assistant coaches such as Richard Wigglesworth, his former team-mate at Saracens, and Johnny Sexton, his former Lions team-mate and fierce international rival.
Of the original 38 picked by Farrell, only three – the captain Maro Itoje, Daly and Ireland prop Tadhg Furlong – are survivors from the last proper Lions tour, of New Zealand, in 2017, while 26 were first-timers. It is a second tour for nine players but because of the Covid restrictions at the time, the 2021 tour of South Africa did not remotely resemble the travelling and match-schedule challenges that the squad are facing in Australia.
It is going to be a challenge for Farrell to prove his match fitness in such a short space of time, but even his presence in training will be impactful by bringing the hard-edged Lions nous and leadership that this squad is missing.
Of the 38 picked by head coach Andy Farrell, only three – the captain Maro Itoje, his Saracens team-mate Elliot Daly and Ireland prop Tadhg Furlong – are survivors from the last proper Lions tour, of New Zealand, in 2017.
Farrell has selected 26 first-timers and nine for which this is their second tour. But because of the Covid restrictions at the time, the 2021 tour of South Africa did not remotely resemble the travelling and match-schedule challenges that will face Farrell's squad in Australia.
In contrast, the selection of Warren Gatland's 41-strong squad for the 2017 tour included 13 players who had experienced a traditional tour before, and two – Alun Wyn Jones and Leigh Halfpenny – who were on their third.
And what a redemption story it would be if Farrell, who was cheered by Lions supporters when he appeared on the stadium screens for the pre-tour match against Argentina in Dublin, ends up kicking the match-winning penalty in the third Test.