As expected, England duo Andy Farrell, Graham Rowntree have been confirmed as Warren Gatland‘s Lions assistants for next summer’s tour of Australia today.
England’s defence specialist Farrell will join the Lions
backroom staff for the first time while Rowntree will be in charge of the forwards like in 2009 in South Africa.
The third member of the coaching team is Wales attack coach Rob Howley who will look after the backs and the attack for the second consecutive tour.
However, Farrell’s appointment means there is no place for Shaun Edwards, the defence coach who has a long history of working with Gatland and is now expected to accompany Wales to Japan next summer.
Gatland said: “I am delighted with the appointments and confident that Rob, Graham, Andy and myself can come together quickly to face one of the hardest rugby challenges.
“We have no illusion as to the hard work required but we have spoken of the challenges and truly believe that as a coaching team we can provide the players with the support and environment needed for victory in Australia.
“We will also discuss over the coming weeks the requirement for any further technical assistance.”
Lions manager Andy Irvine said: “This is an exciting day and the next chapter in the 2013 tour story. The selection of the coaching staff is significant, this experienced trio have proven track records and we are delighted to have them on board.
“Importantly I believe we now have in the tour management team, in the areas of coaching, logistics, media, performance analysis and medical, continuity from previous tours, especially 2009.”
Rowntree and Farrell won’t be the only England representative in the coaching staff as Senior Physiotherapist Phil Pask, Fitness coach Paul Stridgeon and Media Manager Dave Barton will also be part of the Lions tour.
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