Andy Farrell opens Lions door for son Owen and other France-based players | British & Irish Lions

Andy Farrell is ready to select ­players based in France for this summer’s British & Irish Lions tour of ­Australia including his son Owen and may request that Top 14 clubs agree to their early release. Farrell also said he will not pick players simply to satisfy quotas despite fears the Wales squad could be completely overlooked.

On unveiling his coaching staff for the 10-game tour, Farrell revealed he and his assistants have compiled a longlist of about 75 players that includes Courtney Lawes, who is impressing for Brive in the French second division, and is likely to ­feature a number of others, including Owen Farrell. The Toulouse duo of Jack Willis and Blair Kinghorn with Kyle Sinckler, David Ribbans and Ben White, all of whom are based at ­Toulon, are also possibilities.

Owen Farrell has endured a ­difficult season with a struggling Racing 92 side and has not played for England since the 2023 World Cup bronze-medal match. He has been sidelined of late with a groin injury but appeared off the bench last Saturday as Racing pulled off an impressive victory at Clermont.

Andy Farrell will name his squad, of about 37 players, on 8 May, but with the Top 14 final scheduled for 28 June, France-based ­players could have to join the tour late and miss the curtain-raiser against ­Argentina in Dublin as well as the first match in Australia. Farrell said the Lions could enter talks with clubs such as ­Toulouse in a bid to secure players’ early release, though the Top 14 clubs would probably expect compensation.

“We’re open-minded about all of that,” he said. “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 could even have a ­conversation with some clubs over there, they might release them. These things will be ongoing.”

Asked if Owen was in contention for the tour, the head coach said: “Same as everyone else. He’s just coming back from injury. You keep an eye on everything and he is like every other player.”

Farrell’s five-strong coaching team features three of his Ireland lieutenants in Simon Easterby, Andrew Goodman and John Fogarty while Scotland’s John Dalziel and England’s Richard Wigglesworth have also been chosen. There is no Wales ­representation for the first time since 1997, however, after another Six Nations wooden spoon with England’s thumping final-round win condemning them to a 17th straight defeat.

There is also a limited number of Wales players in contention for ­selection and though Jac Morgan, Tomos Williams and Dewi Lake will be hopeful, Farrell does not intend to make picks for political reasons. “I know that’s idealistic for everyone, but surely this has to be done on merit for who fits,” he said. “I’ve never been like that. Imagine not going on a Lions tour because someone thinks somebody else not as good deserves a place because of the dynamics [of picking a spread of nationalities]. Surely that’s not fair.”

Farrell’s next big decision will be to select his captain with Ireland’s Caelan Doris and England’s Maro Itoje considered the frontrunners. “Obviously I read all the stuff, so I get where you’re all at,” he said, “but [I have] four or five, five or six [in mind]. Who’s going to be themself, and flourish in that type of environment, is a process we will keep going through.

“[The captain has] got to be highly respected within the group and a person that’s more than ­comfortable being himself within that and is able to do that.

“He’s got to have the respect, not just as a player, not just as a leader within the changing room, but a leader in the way he handles himself in the entirety of what a Lions captain should be.”