Andy Farrell hopes to have greater clarity on a potential coaching role with the British & Irish Lions by the end of the month but insists his Ireland commitments will take precedence.
Lions head coach Warren Gatland is said to be busy assembling a formidable coaching lineup for the highly anticipated three-Test series against the Springboks, and reports in England suggest Farrell, Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend and England assistant John Mitchell are his main targets.
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But while the Scottish Rugby Union and the RFU have reportedly already given Townsend and Mitchell its respecively blessing to join Watland’s coaching team, Farrell remains coy about his situation as he awaits further information from the Irish Rugby Football Union.
‘I am as updated as you are on all the different ramifications that are being bounced about from day to day,’ Farrell said.
‘There’s nothing I know of that’s going on at this moment in time that gives any clarity on the situation whatsoever.
‘We don’t know whether there is a Lions tour going on, we don’t know whether there is a southern tour going on with Ireland.
‘I hear that hopefully by the end of the month we will know something more concrete,’ he added
‘At this moment in time, we don’t know whether one tour’s going ahead, whether both tours are going ahead, or vice versa.
‘We’ve no clarity and no certainty on anything yet, so I suppose we will have to wait until the end of the month. Again, we don’t know what that tour looks like yet. I don’t know what’s happening as far as the Lions is concerned regarding warm-up matches.
‘I suppose the fallout from those warm-up matches is going to have different ramifications on what happens with the rest of world rugby and who’s available for tours, so we don’t know what the map looks like.’
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Photo: Inpho
