Watch out Aussies – Andy Farrell’s Lions philosophy is taking shape ...Middle East

Richard Wigglesworth’s presence as a coach on the British & Irish Lions tour might be a shock to those who haven’t been following England’s progress, or are unconvinced by it, still.

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.

So what lies behind Wigglesworth’s appointment among the five assistant coaches announced in London on Wednesday, and what is Farrell expecting from the man who won 33 caps as an England scrum-half but never toured with the Lions?

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A few months ago, when England couldn’t buy a win over top opposition, there were not many predictions of a glut of red-rose players making this summer’s Lions tour to Australia.

But England finished the Six Nations in a deluge of tries and with second place ahead of Ireland – at which time head coach Steve Borthwick declared with some ebullience: “Hopefully there will be a lot of players in this squad going on the Lions.”

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 was described as “one of the best box-kickers ever” by Danny Care, his one-time rival for the England No 9 jersey, in Care’s recent autobiography, and this singular skill was firmly associated with Wigglesworth during a distinguished playing career of Premiership titles with Sale Sharks and Saracens – where he first linked up with Farrell as the latter was cutting his coaching teeth in 2010.

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.

Whereupon, as Care wryly noted, “having kept his secrets very close to his chest for years [as a player], he was suddenly teaching me everything I needed to know about box-kicking.”

Kevin Sorrell, the Saracens backs coach, told The i Paper there was no surprise about Wigglesworth becoming a coach.

“His game understanding, not only the skills stuff but also his tactical understanding, was brilliant,” Sorrell said. “How to build pressure to relieve pressure – he was always very sharp about these things.”

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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.

“It wasn’t some kind of last resort, it was part of our process. We were blessed at that time having Neil de Kock, Richard Wigglesworth and Ben Spencer, who were all good at it. Every team has to make use of its strengths.”

Which brings us back to England and the Lions.

In the wake of England putting 17 tries past Italy and Wales in their last two Six Nations matches, a cheery Borthwick threw a couple of trivia questions at the press.

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.

The answer is France had done it with five tries just the previous week but, before that, the last team to put three tries past Ireland in Dublin before England on 1 February had been Japan in summer 2021.

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.

Borthwick was also proud of scoring four tries against France and their Shaun Edwards-coached defence, two years in a row, and this again is the kind of evidence that could underpin a coaching pick, in addition to the familiarity factor.

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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.

Then there is that kicking prowess. According to Care, England under Borthwick and Wigglesworth liked to quote a statistic that every 50-50 kick won back in Test rugby increases chances of winning by five per cent.

Contested kicks offer the chance of unstructured chaos, with the potential for defences to be spread and gaps to be left around the field.

And Easterby said that Farrell “has always got one eye on how good you can be without the ball. You’ll see early on how we [the Lions] want to get the ball back.”

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.”

For now, the Lions are on the leash, and Wigglesworth the joint attack coach had to do the same to himself yesterday, smilingly admitting that otherwise “I’d be doing cartwheels on the stage with how I feel.”

Andy Farrell

Lions role: Head coach

Prior job: Ireland head coach (2018-present (stepped aside for 2025 six nations)

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).

Lions role: Assistant coach (defence)

Prior job: Interim Ireland head coach in Farrell’s absence (2025)

Coaching CV: Triple crown as Interim Ireland head coach (2025), Ireland defence coach (2021-2024), Ireland forwards coach (2014-2021), Scarlets head coach (2012-2014), Scarlets defence coach (2010-2012).

Simon Easterby the Lions assistant coach (defence) (Photo: Getty)

Richard Wigglesworth

Lions role: Assistant coach (attack)

Prior job: England attack coach (2023-2025)

Coaching CV: Leicester Tigers head coach (2022-2023), Leicester Tigers attack coach and player (2021-2022).

Lions role: Assistant coach (attack)

Prior job: Ireland backs coach (2024-2025)

CV: Leinster assistant coach (2022-2024), Crusaders assistant coach (2020-2022).

Andrew Goodman, the Lions assistant coach (attack) (Photo: Getty)

John Dalziel

Lions role: Assistant coach (forwards)

Prior job: Scotland forwards coach (2020-2025)

CV: Glasgow Warriors forwards coach (2018-2020), Scotland Sevens head coach (2017-2019), Scotland U20 head coach (2010-2017).

Lions role: Assistant coach (scrums)

Prior job: Ireland scrum coach (2020-2025)

CV: Ireland National Academy Forwards Coach (2019-2020) Leinster scrum coach (2015-2019).

John Fogarty, the Lions assistant coach (scrums) (Photo: Getty)

Aled Walters

Lions role: Head of Athletic Performance

Prior job: Ireland strength and conditioning coach

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).

Lions role: General Manager, Performance

Prior job: Ireland Performance Director (2014-Present)

CV: Australia General Manager, high performance unit (2008-2013).

Vinny Hammond

Lions role: Head of Analysis

Prior job: Ireland head of analytics and innovation (2019-present)

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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