British and Irish Lions coach Andy Farrell reveals stance on France-based players and son Owen

Andy Farrell has suggested that he is “open-minded” about potentially including players based in France, including son Owen, in the British and Irish Lions squad to tour Australia despite potential schedule issues.

The Lions head coach confirmed his coaching staff on Wednesday for the trip Down Under, revealing that as many as 75 players had been discussed at a first meeting of his assistants after they were confirmed.

Among them were a number of French-based players, with Toulouse pair Jack Willis and Blair Kinghorn, Brive’s Courtney Lawes, Toulon’s Ben White and Racing 92’s Owen Farrell among those potentially in the frame.

For Willis and Kinghorn particularly, though, there is the prospect of missing the opening two or three games of the tour if their club side reach the Top 14 final, potentially reducing their chances of involvement.

Farrell confirmed that the Lions would be considering all players, even if not involved recently at international level, and could try to persuade some French clubs to release certain individuals early to tour.

“We’re open minded about all of that,” Farrell said, with the squad to be named on 8 May. “As we start to whittle it down the dynamics become a little bit different, but we don’t know if we’re going to have sufficient players in certain positions where we’re able to get on a plane and somebody could join us for game three.

“We don’t know if a player that fits the bill of being interchangeable, being able to play three or four different positions. We could even have a conversation with some clubs over there, they might release them. These things will be ongoing.”

Farrell later clarified that it was more likely to be a couple of French-based players than a larger group.

Among those possibly in the frame is his son Owen, who has endured a difficult season at Racing 92 with the Paris club short of form and the former England captain battling injury.

The fly half position is one of intrigue with few proven international performers in the frame, potentially bringing Farrell into contention.

“He’s the same as everyone else,” Andy Farrell said of the playmaker. “He’s just coming back from injury. You keep an eye on everything, like every player.”

Of the fly halves more generally, Farrell added: “It’s my job along with the other coaches to make sure we see the reality with everything, not the hype.

“We need to make sure we do our work to find out what really makes the individual tick. I love part of the job, getting round the head coaches, and other coaches who give their time to go through, honestly, how they see their players. It’s alright for me to know from the outside, and having coached against them. Getting to understand the person, the character has been a pleasure for me to go through that process with the coaches. They’ve been outstanding. I feel more loaded in terms of having a proper opinion and doing people justice when it comes to selection.”

There will be no selection quotas for the squad, with Farrell free to choose a group comprised of as many players from each nation as he wishes. It could leave a situation where there is limited Welsh representation in Australia, though the head coach stressed that selection should be entirely meritocratic.

“I know that’s idealistic for everyone, but surely this has to be done on merit for who fits,” he said. “Imagine not going on a Lions tour because someone thinks that somebody else not as good deserves a place because of the dynamics? Surely that’s not fair.

“You’ll see in the weeks to come we’re nearly there with the high performance team, and the team behind the team. The blend is thorough throughout. That isn’t just to do that, either, that is just on merit because they’re the right people.”