Jeremy Guscott: Farrell can bring fresh ideas for the Lions
The plain truth is that what works for Wales will not work for the Lions – just as what worked for England did not work for Clive Woodward as Lions coach in 2005. The template that Ian McGeechan restored in 2009 of the Lions being above national self-interest is the right one, and the one that Gatland must borrow from.
It will have been a tough decision for Gatland to promote Farrell ahead of Edwards, but the reason that he has given makes sense. Coaching groups at international level need to be freshened up, and when Gatland says that he needs to be challenged by new ideas it rings true.
Farrell has come a long way very quickly, but, although I’ve met him only on a couple of occasions, I can relate to what players say about trusting him. Trust is a very important quality in a coach because of the limited time frames you have in international rugby – which are even more limited with the Lions. You have to get players to buy into your message very quickly, so that everyone is on the same page.
The only slight hesitation I have is that some of the Rugby League guys who have come into Rugby Union coaching are not always comfortable about focusing on attack, mainly because they do not understand the whole game. Edwards has that picture because of his experience, and he can operate as an attack coach, as well as defence and skills, whereas Farrell may find it more difficult because he is newer to the game.
Joe Schmidt is another coach who, like Edwards, has missed out. The omission has caused some comment in Ireland mainly because he has helped to turn Leinster into a Heineken Cup-winning side. However, you have always had more of an advantage in Lions selection if you are coaching at international level, because you get close up to your own players, and the opposition’s, in the Test environment – and Schmidt hasn’t done that.
Schmidt is also a head honcho, which means that at Leinster he is in a role more like Gatland’s, and there isn’t room for both of them in Australia. But more than anything it’s about international experience. The main selection of the tour party will depend on what happens in the Six Nations, and Schmidt will not be involved, whereas Howley, Rowntree and Farrell will be.
Some eyebrows were raised over Howley, but not mine. His Lions credentials on two tours as a player speak for themselves, and the Lions backs did well when he coached them in 2009. In last season’s Grand Slam the Wales attack worked well, and on the Australia tour it was also good despite the losses. He’s a good choice, and the obvious choice despite Wales’ results this autumn.
Outside factors have had an influence, and Howley’s different role as acting head coach after Gatland’s accident will have taken some adjusting to. They are very different jobs, and you cannot judge him as an attack coach when he’s been doing the job as head coach.
What you hear about Rowntree is that coaches and players alike rate him. Just as players get connected to Farrell, you know that what they say about Rowntree is genuine. There was an intensity about the England forwards that brewed throughout the autumn – and it kept improving. Against Australia there were nerves, against South Africa the physicality was right up there, and against New Zealand they went up another level.
People can say that he got it wrong with the Phil Vickery selection in the first Test in 2009, but he’s got four more years experience, and has done good things with the England pack.
Gatland has said he will be judged by these coaching decisions after the tour is over – and he will be. He has also suggested that it is up to the 2013 Lions to restore some credibility, but I’m not so sure that he is right. The Lions have to be competitive, and 2005 was shambolic and mismanaged. But McGeechan got it back on track in 2009, and he showed Gatland, Howley and Edwards what it’s about.
Gatland has always had a ‘loose lips sink ships’ element about him, and he has to try and temper that Aussie-Kiwi style sledging to the extent that it might be worth him having ‘I am a Lion’ tattooed on the inside of his eyelids. He’ll get some stick from the Aussies, but he has to rise above it and stay dedicated to the aim of winning the series.
We know about the Grand Slams with Wales, and the Heineken Cup and Premierships with Wasps, but this is the ultimate test. It’s a hell of a job, but a great one to have. Somehow he has to shed his Kiwi roots and avoid the verbal slip-ups that the Aussies will want him to fall into, and hopefully he will be helped by the likes of Andy Irvine, Howley and Rowntree, who understand the passion behind the Lions badge.
Men like McGeechan and Jim Telfer have the Lions in their souls, and that passion will not be second nature to Gatland as a Kiwi, or to Farrell from a Rugby League background, so how they tap into it as the main motivators will be crucial.
The Lions are a living link with the past, and, just as with the All Blacks, you do not own that jersey. The challenge as a player, or a coach, is to live up to the pressures and expectations of the biggest team in rugby.
What other rugby team has 30,000 followers who travel across the globe to support them every four years?
This tour will still be massively supported despite three consecutive losses, although the Lions should have won in 2001 and 2009.
That is what makes it unbelievable that the 2013 Lions have not been given two more weeks to get together and prepare. All that needed to happen was to reposition two games from the season schedule to bring the end of season matches forward, with the LV=Cup being the obvious candidate for midweek games.
The Lions are too important not to make those accommodations, but the administrators have failed to do so yet again.
