British & Irish Lions CEO Ben Calveley believes Andy Farrell is “in a very strong position” to lead the famous touring side to New Zealand in 2029 following the 2-1 series victory over Australia this summer.
The Lions touring party began their departure from Sydney on Sunday following the previous night’s lightning-interrupted third and final Test defeat to the Wallabies, having taken a 2-0 lead in the series with back-to-back victories in Brisbane and Melbourne.
Head coach Farrell, whose current IRFU contract as Ireland boss runs to the end of the 2027 World Cup, has thus delivered a first series victory for the Lions since 2013 and on Saturday in his post-match media conference he outlined his affinity with the concept of the 137-year-old touring tradition every four years to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in rotation.
“I love everything that the Lions is about and I’ve thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed the last eight weeks,” Farrell said.
“There’s always ups and there’s always downs but the inner circle is a special place to be.”
Asked if he would like to return for second tour as head coach, the Ireland boss said: “Well, read into that what you want but I suppose four years, there’s a long time between drinks isn’t there?”
The Lions chief executive on Sunday said the appointment process for the New Zealand tour would not start until two years out but made it clear that Farrell was the frontrunner to take charge.
“Andy’s done an incredible job and I have really enjoyed working with him,” Calveley said. “I go right back to when I first met him to offer him the role. You could see right then that we had made the right decision in appointing Andy.
“Since he has started full time back in December, he has brought a real focus to the operation which has ultimately resulted in success on the field of play. He has done a great job and I have really enjoyed working with him. I think we will now give him a bit of time off.
“He can go back to Dublin and decompress a little bit and then he can start building for the autumn internationals in Ireland and building towards the World Cup in 2027. We wish him all the success with that.
“When it comes to our appointments for future tours, so you mentioned 2029, we will start the process in about two years and I don’t think it would be right to comment on where it ends up, let’s see. But, certainly you’re right, he has put himself in a very strong position hasn’t he, let’s put it that way.”
Farrell also received an influential endorsement from current tour manager and chair of the Lions board Ieuan Evans.
“Leading coaches are cultural architects. The best coaches in the world are elite at that,” former Wales and Lions wing Evans said.
“The evidence is very much there that is the case (with Farrell’s stewardship of the Lions). It was a healthy competitive culture around the whole tour party, from the playing and coaching staff to the backroom staff to the medics and S&C. That was exceptional.
“These tours are not designed to be easy to win and compete in. Winning Lions teams are supposed to be really challenging, really exceptionally challenging. You have to have the right culture in order to succeed as well as the talent and the hard work.
“You expect that talent and hard work to come to the fore because of the players of this sort of quality do not get to where they are without it. But you need the culture to allow that to come to the fore and Andy Farrell is exceptional at that.”
Calveley said discussions were continuing with New Zealand Rugby over the 2029 Tour Agreement, which outlines the schedule, competition rules and distribution of revenues when the Lions will return for the first time since the drawn series with the All Blacks in 2017.
“That is going very well and that will continue throughout the remainder of this year and into next year. We are making really good progress. We expect it to have a very similar footprint to the one we have just delivered here in Australia.”
Where there may be changes to the Lions schedule could be in the pre-Test series window. The Lions played the Barbarians in Hong Kong en route to Australia in 2013, faced Japan in Edinburgh ahead of the 2021 tour and welcomed Argentina to Dublin’s Aviva Stadium for a sold-out game last June 20 on the eve of departure Down Under.
Calveley would like to see similar games against international opposition ahead of and during future Lions tours.
The Lions game in Dublin really caught the imagination of supporters seven weeks ago, and a pre-tour game was a “central piece in tour preparations now,” the CEO said.
“Could you see us being interested in doing something with the French or in north America, for example? The answer is yes. We will look to capitalise on that in the future.
“Not necessarily always at home. We like the idea of it being at home. But if there is a compelling reason to do it en route to New Zealand in 2029 or at some time in the future.”
