Advertisement
League of Ireland
Horse Racing
TV Listings
GAA Fixtures
The Video Review
Sport meets news, current affairs, society & pop culture
Rugby Weekly Extra
Dive into all the news and analysis 3 times a week
The Football Family
Weekly insights from the week’s big talking points
Advertisement
More Stories
Farrell's coaching team was announced in London today.Billy Stickland/INPHO
Tried and trusted
Farrell loads Lions coaching team with familiar faces
The Lions boss has previously worked with four of his five assistant coaches.
6.01pm, 26 Mar 2025
Share options
ANDY FARRELL’S LIONS coaching team, confirmed this morning, is a mix of faces familiar to the Ireland boss alongside some less obvious inclusions.
Simon Easterby, Andrew Goodman, and John Fogarty all join from the Ireland set-up, while England’s Richard Wigglesworth and Scotland’s John Dalziel – the first ‘bolters’ of the 2025 Lions tour – are also on board. All five will be part of a Lions coaching team for the first time. Add in the previously confirmed appointments of Ireland’s head of athletic performance Aled Walters, head of analysis Vinny Hammond and former IRFU performance director David Nucifora, and there is a distinctly IRFU feel to Farrell’s staff.
The exact individual roles of Farrell’s coaches has not been confirmed and while it’s easy enough to work out who will be doing what, there is flexibility to this coaching team, with Farrell himself highlighting how the group “has versatility and are interchangeable in their skillset.”
As he does in his capacity as Ireland boss, Farrell will be hands on in running the show as his assistants add their own flavour to the overall picture.
Take Goodman, who comes on board to help run the Lions attack less than a year after joining Farrell’s Ireland camp. The New Zealander arrived to take charge of Leinster’s attack in 2022 having built a strong reputation during his time with the Crusaders. Two years later he succeeded Mike Catt as Ireland attack coach and a year down the line he’s landed another promotion.
Advertisement
Andy Farrell.Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
The appointment is an interesting one because Goodman has yet to really get Ireland’s attack firing. While highly-rated in the Ireland set-up, his first full window with the squad saw Ireland’s attack struggle to ignite across the November 2024 Tests. There were encouraging signs of progress across the early rounds of this year’s Six Nations before Ireland’s championship fizzled out to a disappointing end, and Ireland’s attack remains a going concern.
With Ireland, Goodman’s work initially focused on Ireland’s set-piece strike launch plays and specific work with the backline before he took on more responsibility around the overall attack during Farrell’s absence in the Six Nations. With the Lions Farrell will mastermind the attack again as Goodman adds his touches into the overall gameplan.
It takes Goodman away from Ireland’s summer tour to Georgia and Portugal, where Easterby will also be a notable absentee as Paul O’Connell steps in to serve as Ireland’s second stand-in head coach of the year.
As Ireland’s interim head coach during the Six Nations, Easterby had previously been confirmed to hold the reins for the summer tour but those plans have now changed as he links up with the Lions to take charge of the defence. That suggests Farrell might have had somebody else in mind for the role, with Felix Jones, now back with the Springboks, and France defence coach Shaun Edwards both touted as potential options.
Farrell and Easterby have been working together with Ireland since 2016 so Farrell knows exactly what he’s getting from the former Ireland flanker – who started two Tests on the 2005 Lions tour to New Zealand.
Farrell has a similarly long-standing relationship with Fogarty, who he appointed as Ireland scrum coach in 2020, and was the anticipated choice for this tour.
He goes back even further with Wigglesworth, who Farrell coached with both Saracens and England before he crossed the water to sign up with the IRFU.
Richard Wigglesworth.Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
Wigglesworth’s stock has risen significantly in recent months. The former scrum-half joined Steve Borthwick’s England set-up in 2023, overseeing the attack, and was promoted to senior coach last year in the wake of Felix Jones’ surprise resignation. Wigglesworth’s inclusion had been flagged in recent days but less than two weeks ago, following England’s defeat of Wales, Borthwick stated there had been no contact from Farrell regarding bringing any of his coaches to Australia.
With Goodman expected to look after the launch-plays and Farrell shaping the overall attack, Wigglesworth’s main focus may be around kicking and skills.
The most surprising inclusion was that of Scotland forwards coach John Dalziel. O’Connell had been viewed as the frontrunner, although previously talked down his chances of going on tour.
Dalziel has two decades of coaching behind him, coaching the Scotland U20s and Sevens before working as an assistant with Glasgow Warriors and joining the Test side in August 2020. There isn’t exactly a clutch of Scotland forwards pushing for Lions selection but Dalziel has helped improve their breakdown and lineout work – Scotland won more lineouts than any other team in this year’s championship.
As the sole Scot on a coaching ticket which also contains one Englishman and four IRFU employees – and the only coach with no previous experience of working with Farrell – Dalziel’s outside perspective could prove valuable.
While there is a fresh look to this Lions coaching team, most of Farrell’s assistants will arrive in camp with a clear understanding of how their head coach operates. Those in England, Scotland and Wales will hope to see a more varied spread when Farrell names his playing squad on 8 May.
Ciarán Kennedy
Viewcomments
Send Tip or Correction
Embed this post
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Email “Farrell loads Lions coaching team with familiar faces”.
Recipient's Email
Feedback on “Farrell loads Lions coaching team with familiar faces”.
Your Feedback
Your Email (optional)
Report a Comment
Please select the reason for reporting this comment.
Please give full details of the problem with the comment...
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
before taking part.
Leave a Comment
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Damaging the good reputation of someone, slander, or libel.
Racism or Hate speech
An attack on an individual or group based on religion, race, gender, or beliefs.
Trolling or Off-topic
An attempt to derail the discussion.
Inappropriate language
Profanity, obscenity, vulgarity, or slurs.
Advertising, phishing, scamming, bots, or repetitive posts.
Please provide additional information
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.
Leave a commentcancel
Access to the comments facility has been disabled for this user
View our policy
⚠️ Duplicate comment
Post Comment
have your say
Or create a free account to join the discussion
andrew goodman
andy farrell
john dalziel
John Fogarty
Richard Wigglesworth
Simon Easterby
team:British & Irish Lions ( 1641)
Tried and trusted
Antrim players call for progress on redevelopment of Casement Park
36 mins ago
FreeUncertain Future
RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney to face vote of no confidence
staying power
The Lions: Relic of amateur times which has somehow survived professional era
Ronan Early
FreePodcast
Murray and JT pick their personal Lions 23s, plus reaction to Farrell's coaching announcement
FreeIreland WNT
Marissa Sheva signs for Sunderland as Ireland's performance coach departs
Development
O'Connell to lead important Ireland tour shorn of other Irish coaches
Murray Kinsella
St Pat's announce Ian Bermingham as new head of academy football
Ireland U17s secure historic World Cup qualification
Easterby, Goodman, and Fogarty confirmed in Farrell's Lions set-up
FreeLonglist
Andy Farrell draws up initial 75-player list for Lions tour of Australia
mayo for sam
Mayo boss McStay visits Connacht for MacHale Park history lesson
more from us
Investigates
Daft.ie Property Magazine
Allianz Home Magazine
The 42 Sports Magazine
Money Diaries
The Journal TV
Journal Media
Advertise With Us
About FactCheck
Our Network
FactCheck Knowledge Bank
Terms & Legal Notices
Terms of Use
Cookies & Privacy
Advertising
Competition
more from us
TV Listings
GAA Fixtures
The Video Review
Journal Media
Advertise With Us
Our Network
The Journal
FactCheck Knowledge Bank
Terms & Legal Notices
Terms of Use
Cookies & Privacy
Advertising
Competition
© 2025 Journal Media Ltd
Terms of Use
Cookies & Privacy
Advertising
Competition
Switch to Desktop
Switch to Mobile
The 42 supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and the Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at https://www.presscouncil.ie, PH: (01) 6489130, Lo-Call 1800 208 080 or email: mailto:info@presscouncil.ie
Report an error, omission or problem:
Your Email (optional)
Create Email Alert
Create an email alert based on the current article
Email Address
One email every morning
As soon as new articles come online
Sign in or create
a free account
To continue reading create a free account
Or sign into an existing account
Related News
11 Feb, 2025
Man Utd owners INEOS sued by New Zealand . . .
30 Mar, 2025
What Ireland need to do to qualify for t . . .
16 Mar, 2025
Wisconsin Badgers Secure Thrilling 77-74 . . .
18 Mar, 2025
Airtel, Mobihealth promote digital healt . . .
30 Mar, 2025
Childs in charge as Limerick claim Divis . . .
13 Feb, 2025
Neighbours star has barely aged a day as . . .
08 Feb, 2025
Earl to auction 450 family artefacts in . . .
29 Mar, 2025
Team of barristers lined up by Rachel Re . . .