Farrell looks likely to overlook England coaches for his British Lions staff

Andy Farrell looks likely to overlook England’s assistants when selecting his British & Irish Lions coaching staff, with Steve Borthwick revealing he has not been approached about members of the backroom team.

After England rounded off their Six Nations campaign with a record win against Wales to ensure a second-placed finish, Borthwick stated that he wanted as many of his players selected for the Lions tour as possible when Farrell names his squad on 8 May.

Borthwick also endorsed Maro Itoje for the captaincy but with Farrell naming his coaching ticket in nine to 10 days’ time, assistants Richard Wigglesworth, Tom Harrison, Kevin Sinfield, Joe El-Abd and Andrew Strawbridge are all expected to be passed over, ensuring England coaches miss out for the second Lions tour in a row.

Both Wigglesworth and Harrison have seen their stock rise during the campaign, with England ending on a high note, racking up 10 tries in Cardiff while their scrum has shown significant improvements throughout the competition.

Borthwick, who was the last England coach to be seconded for a Lions tour in 2017, said: “Andy hasn’t talked about any of the coaching team at this stage. I’d love them to have the opportunity. I’d love as many of the management team as possible to have that. That Lions experience I had in 2017 was one of the best, if not the best, experience I’ve had in my life.

“Working with the best players from four different countries, working with incredible coaches against top-class opposition. I developed and learned so much as a coach in that period, it was brilliant for me and accelerated my coaching, so I’d love as many other people from the England group to be in there as possible, and I’ll be fully supportive of them all.”

England should still be well represented in the playing squad after ending the championship with four wins from five. Players such as the Curry brothers, Ben Earl, Will Stuart, Fin Smith, Alex Mitchell and Tommy Freeman have all played their way into contention.

It is understood that all England players selected are mandated 10 weeks off after the tour ensuring they will miss the first two rounds of the Premiership season, then be available for three before the autumn internationals. England have four autumn Tests later this year and while Eddie Jones was forced to rest some of his senior stars in 2017, it is understood that there are no such restrictions this year, though players’ workloads will be carefully managed.

“[Andy and I] met about three weeks ago, we spoke on the phone about 10 days ago, I’m sure we will next week as well,” said Borthwick, who will take a developmental squad on the summer tour of Argentina and the US. “I have done the exercise about 10 times, where I’ve sat there and written out which players I think will go – and I end up with a different number each time.

“We want as many of our England players on the Lions tour as possible. I’ve been fortunate to have plenty of rugby experience, great rugby experiences, and being part of the Lions coaching team in 2017 was probably the best. Anybody on that Lions tour will come back being a better player.

“My coaches will start planning on Thursday this week about the eventualities if a player leaves for the Lions, so we have two players in every position where you have that depth. And so those players will need to play super well for their clubs, and now push the case for selection.”