John Fogarty: No Farrell family favouritism for Owen under Lions boss Andy
However, the dynamic between the pair has been strictly professional since Owen's late call-up into his father's squad, according to Lions scrum coach John Fogarty.
Owen Farrell missed out on selection for the first Test win in Brisbane but the former England captain has been named in the reserves for the clash at the Melbourne Cricket Ground tomorrow morning (11am Irish time).
Farrell and his father have shared plenty of changing rooms, including during the Lions' 2013 tour of Australia, when Andy was defence coach and Owen came off the bench to help the tourists win the third Test decider in Sydney.
The family ties make for an interesting sub-plot as the pair could celebrate another series win at the MCG on Saturday.
In the team environment, though, their special relationship is virtually imperceptible, said Fogarty.
"When we're training or when we're in a rugby setting, there's no difference between any player and Owen," Fogarty told reporters on Friday.
"It's just the same relationship as any player and coach. If you didn't know it was his son, you wouldn't really get it.
"You wouldn't really think he was his son. He doesn't treat him in any way differently.
"They're two professionals."
The coach's decision to call up Owen as a replacement for injured full-back Elliot Daly proved polarising despite the fly-half-cum-centre's leadership and experience of three previous Lions tours.
Farrell had, after all, not played a Test for England since 2023 and endured an injury-blighted season with French club Racing 92.
But few have questioned the 33-year-old's selection for the Melbourne Test following his strong, 80-minute performance at inside centre in the mid-week win over the First Nations & Pasifika XV.
Farrell's versatility and experience could prove valuable for the Lions on Saturday should the Test prove tight and tense deep into the second half.
The players will hear a familiar voice out on the field.
"He has huge respect from the other players," Fogarty said.
"When he talks, he talks sense, like his dad.
"There's similarities between the two of them. They're natural leaders. That's very visible when they both interact with players."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
40 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
Louth pair shine bright at European Youth Olympic Festival in baking Skopje heat
The Argus Today at 21:30 Estella Volkoff and Rian McCrystal did themselves, the country and the Dundalk area proud with their performances in last week's European Youth Olympic Festival in Skopje, North Macedonia. Carlingford-based Estella was in the Irish gymnastics team in the Girls' All Around competition, and following the four apparatus events she finished with a total score of 45.300. Her final position overall was yet to be confirmed, but she and fellow Irish gymnast Roisin Hickey combined for 10th place in the team competition. The EYOF has served as a valuable springboard for many of Ireland's top gymnasts, including Olympic champion Rhys McClenaghanand 14-year-old Estella, who competes for DP Gymnastics Club, was pleased with her performance. She scored 10.45 in the uneven bars, 12.1 on the beam, 11.2 in the floor routine and 11.55 in the vault, and afterwards she said: 'I feel like my vault and my bars were very clean. I'm very happy with my floor because I put in a double tap for the first time in an international competition. I'm also very pleased with my beam.' 'I was happiest with the beam. I really love the beam, even though this routine wasn't the best.' Rian McCrystal, nephew of Paralympic champion Eve McCrystal, represented his country in cycling's 10km out-and-back time trial, held in temperatures that reached 40 degrees at one stage, and he performed very strongly to finish 35th in a time of 13:19.696. Team Ireland enjoyed significant success at the Festival, winning six medals, with a number of national records and personal bests also broken.
The Irish Sun
4 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Marcus Rashford gets into the action on Barcelona debut as he comes on at half time – but gets subbed after 33 minutes
MARCUS Rashford gets into the action on his Barcelona debut yesterday — after coming out at half-time for just 33 minutes. The Three Lions striker, on a season-long loan from Man Utd, became the first Englishman to play for the Spanish giants since Gary Lineker between 1986 and 1989. 3 Marcus Rashford takes a shot at goal on his Barcelona debut 3 The Three Lions striker is on a season-long loan from Man Utd Credit: Getty 3 He is the first Englishman to play for the Spanish giants since Gary Lineker Credit: Getty Legend Lineker said: 'I expect Marcus will do well.' Rashford, 27, helped Barca to a 3-1 victory in a friendly in We recently revealed how Rashford has has rekindled his She was with him when he signed for FC Barcelona. READ MORE ON RASHFORD The Three Lions ace, 27, and childhood sweetheart , 26, were together during a photoshoot before he was unveiled as the Catalan giants' latest signing at the Camp Nou stadium. She took his photo, then moved behind him to take another and seemingly checked his shirt before the Man United exile posed beside a traditional red British phone box. Rashford was later seen emerging from the kiosk in a post on FC Barcelona's social media, captioned: 'Hello? Barca? For sure, I'm coming.' The Sun understands that Rashford has asked calming influence Lucia, who works in PR, to help him settle in to life in Spain so he can focus on his football. Most read in Football But they were not seen together until they were unwittingly snapped preparing for his phone box stunt. A source said the pair have stayed close, Marcus Rashford back together with ex-fiancee Lucia Loi two years after they split as childhood sweetheart joins him in Barcelona
The 42
4 hours ago
- The 42
'Win by will' - The powerful video Katie Taylor sent to the Lions
PERFORMANCE COACH GARY Keegan's old connections came in handy for the Lions as they prepared for their second Test win against the Wallabies. Keegan, who works closely with Andy Farrell with Ireland and now the Lions, goes a long way back with Irish boxing icon Katie Taylor. He was the high performance director of the Irish Athletic Boxing Association when Taylor began to make a name for herself as an amateur, helping to guide the early stages of her career. So earlier this week, as Farrell's Lions prepared for what they knew could be a decisive game against Australia in Melbourne, Keenan got onto his old friend. Taylor's video went down brilliantly with the Lions squad and proved prescient in terms of how the second Test unfolded. 'It was unbelievably poignant and powerful,' said Lions and Ireland number eight Jack Conan after the last-gasp 29-26 win over the Wallabies. 'It spoke about being prepared to win with skill, but be ready to win by will. 'I think that was something that summed up today massively because we were not at our best at all.' Conan hails from Bray, where Taylor is also from, so the video was particularly special for him. 'Massively, huge,' said Conan. 'Someone to come from the town I'm from, I'm incredibly proud of where I come from and I know Katie is as well. 'She's gone on to achieve incredible feats in the boxing world and to be such a superstar and be just incredibly humble and driven and knock it out of herself is something that we kind of leaned on as well, because we knew that Australia are a hugely proud nation and they showed it today in spades. Advertisement 'They were unbelievable, they really were, but we just stuck in it for 80 minutes and just incredibly proud of the effort from the lads. Katie Taylor celebrates her recent win against Amanda Serrano. Gary Carr / INPHO Gary Carr / INPHO / INPHO 'I know things didn't click and we weren't flowing properly, but we were getting off the line, trying to hit people, trying to make it count every chance we got. And I think we did that and that's why we got the result in the end.' It wasn't only Conan and the big group of Irish Lions who were impressed with Taylor's message. Her words hit the mark with the rest of the squad. 'Lads absolutely loved it because it meant a lot to me being from the same place and seeing her on the world stage, but I think everyone loved it, even the English and the Scottish boys and the Welsh boy, it resonated with everyone,' said Conan. 'It was unbelievably poignant, it was class. It really hit home for us, it was brilliant.' Conan was standing outside the Lions' dressing room with two cans of Guinness in his hands – 'Sorry, the cans are not good, lads' – as he got his head around winning a series with the Lions. He played all three Tests on the 2021 tour of South Africa but the Lions lost that one and there were no crowds due to the pandemic. This trip to Australia has been altogether different. He revealed that the Lions' training session on Thursday ahead of the second Test was 'pretty shocking' and felt that possibly fed into their up-and-down performance at the MCG, but all that mattered to him was that the tourists had won. Conan joked that as a Leinster man he usually comes out on the wrong side of dramatic finishes like the one in Melbourne, so he was thrilled that his long-time team-mate Hugo Keenan, who is nicknamed 'Barry,' was the man to seal the series. 'I was delighted for him… now in saying that, I would have liked it more if he gave me the ball on the edge and I scored the try,' said Conan. Conan with his daughter, Remi, and wife, Ali. Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO 'No, delighted for Barry, I probably would have dropped it like the other one [in the first half]… no, that was knocked out of my hands, lads! 'I was shouting for it, but Barry goes and scores a try, so I've no complaints. If he bottled it there in that moment, I would have killed him and kicked the arse off him afterwards, but that was great.' Conan's wife and daughter have been in Australia to support him, while his twin sister and her husband also made it, along with a big group of Conan's friends. 'They're on a proper stag do, some craic,' said Conan. 'I met one of them earlier who flew in from Singapore and all the lads were already in the pub at half ten [in the morning] enjoying it and I was like, 'f*cking b*stards, I'd love to be there'. 'It's great doing the lap afterwards and seeing so many familiar faces.' His friends had an early start in the pub but Conan is now a Lions series winner. 'You can't take that away from us,' said Conan with clear joy before wandering off to find the rest of the Lions so his celebrations could continue.
