The 41-year-old will share responsibility for the Lions’ attack this summer with Ireland‘s Andrew Goodman, and of course the head man Andy Farrell. England’s attack was routinely panned by critics when a kick-dominated style was used at the 2023 World Cup and again in the one-point win over Scotland in the Six Nations.
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And if England do have a strong representation turning up for the plane to Australia in June, Wigglesworth’s presence means they won’t be greeted only by a cohort of Ireland and Scotland coaches. The same would apply if Farrell’s son, Owen, is part of the squad to be revealed on 8 May.
Wigglesworth combined his last season of playing at Saracens with coaching at schools and Ealing RFC, and helping with Canada’s defence and kicking at the 2019 World Cup. Then he played and coached at Leicester Tigers, under Borthwick, and became Leicester’s interim head coach when Borthwick left in December 2022, then followed Borthwick to England.
England’s head coach Steve Borthwick (R) speaks with Richard Wigglesworth (L) (Photo: Getty)Kevin Sorrell, the Saracens backs coach, told The i Paper there was no surprise about Wigglesworth becoming a coach.
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And the association, or even obsession, with regular kicking? “There was always a purpose behind it – an understanding of it, and what it would lead to,” Sorrell added.
Which brings us back to England and the Lions.
How often had Ireland conceded three tries in Dublin, as England had managed in round one of the Six Nations, he asked. “Look it up, because I know,” Borthwick said.
Now return to the Lions’ announcement, and among those sitting on the stage between Farrell at one end of the line of coaches, and Wigglesworth at the other, was Simon Easterby, who has been Ireland’s defence coach since 2021. So the threads of Farrell’s thinking are becoming easier to identify.
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Among England’s Six Nations attack stats, their 3.6 points per entry to the opposition 22 was impressive, and ranked ahead of the free-scoring France on 2.9.
Contested kicks offer the chance of unstructured chaos, with the potential for defences to be spread and gaps to be left around the field.
Who knows, Wigglesworth might develop a kind of good-cop, bad-cop combo with Goodman, who hails from New Zealand. The former was promoted to be Borthwick’s “senior assistant” in October, and he will surely pay close to attention to the Lions scrum-halves, having said with England he looks for “not speed of ball but speed of release.”
Andy Farrell
Lions role: Head coach
Coaching CV: 2x Six Nations-winning head coach of Ireland (grand slam in 2023), advisor role with Munster (2016), England defence coach (2012-2015), Saracens first-team coach (2010-2012).
Andy Farrell, the Lions head coach (Photo: Getty)Prior job: Interim Ireland head coach in Farrell’s absence (2025)
Simon Easterby the Lions assistant coach (defence) (Photo: Getty)
Richard Wigglesworth
Lions role: Assistant coach (attack)
Coaching CV: Leicester Tigers head coach (2022-2023), Leicester Tigers attack coach and player (2021-2022).
Richard Wigglesworth, the Lions assistant coach (attack) (Photo: Getty)Prior job: Ireland backs coach (2024-2025)
Andrew Goodman, the Lions assistant coach (attack) (Photo: Getty)
John Dalziel
Lions role: Assistant coach (forwards)
CV: Glasgow Warriors forwards coach (2018-2020), Scotland Sevens head coach (2017-2019), Scotland U20 head coach (2010-2017).
John Dalziel, the Lions assistant coach (forwards) (Photo: Getty)Prior job: Ireland scrum coach (2020-2025)
John Fogarty, the Lions assistant coach (scrums) (Photo: Getty)
Aled Walters
Lions role: Head of Athletic Performance
CV: England head of strength and conditioning (2023-2024), Leicester Tigers Head of Physical Performance 2020-2023), South Africa Head of Athletic Performance (2018-2020), Munster S&C/Head of Athletic Performance (2012-2018).
Prior job: Ireland Performance Director (2014-Present)
Vinny Hammond
Lions role: Head of Analysis
CV: Ireland head of analytics and innovation (2019-present), British &Irish Lions performance analyst (2017), Ireland High performance analyst (2008-2019).
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