The British & Irish Lions coaching staff has been finalised after the announcement of their assistants on Wednesday and head coach Andy Farrell is looking forward to working with his deputies.

The Lions face a gruelling nine-match tour to Australia in July – including three Tests against the Wallabies – and prior to the trip Down Under, Farrell’s side will face off against Argentina at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on June 20.

There’s a strong Ireland contingent in the Lions‘ coaching group with Simon Easterby, John Fogarty and Andrew Goodman, who were all part of the men from the Emerald Isle’s backroom staff during the recent Six Nations, all included while Scotland forwards coach John Dalziel and England senior coach Richard Wigglesworth are viewed as surprise inclusions in the backroom staff.

Farrell is happy that preparations are on track and that the entire coaching staff are on the same page ahead of their trip to Australia.

“Listen, there’s a lot of work that’s gone into the scheduling and getting to this point, et cetera,” he told Sky Sports.

‘A lot of cohesion straight away’

“It’s nice to actually show the boys exactly what’s in front of them. It’s a starting point selection, all of that. Everything came out yesterday, and a lot of laughs and a lot of giggles, a lot of cohesion straight away, from minute one.

“So yeah, great group, good blokes.”

Farrell was asked what he expects of his assistants over the next few months and replied: “Oh, 100%, to be themselves, because they wouldn’t be here unless that was the case.

“Not only tactically, technically, are they brilliant at the jobs in that regard, but they’re adaptable.

“They’re able to integrate well together, which is big on a tour like this, obviously. But not just that, more than anything, they’re good people, and the cohesion of the coaching staff together is massive for the players.

“If they can see that we’re all on the same page and getting on very well together, then that’s a good start for everyone.”

All the coaches revealed that it’s an honour to be involved with the Lions and spoke about their memories of previous tours to the southern hemisphere for the famous touring team.

👉 British and Irish Lions coaching ticket announced as Andy Farrell turns to trusted Ireland assistants but England and Scotland also represented

Goodman was questioned on the Lions’ style of play and hinted that they will employ an expansive style, which their fans will be proud of.

“Well, that’s, as we said earlier, it’s been part of the 24 hours we’ve had together already. Like, when you think about the attack that we, myself and Faz, can have a big influence on working together,” he revealed.

“You know, the athletes that we’ve got coming in, the unique way the tour works with the games coming thick and fast at the start.

“We want to be really clear and aligned as a coaching group first. So when the players come in, it’s really simple messages. They can go out and express themselves.

‘We want to have an attack that excites the fans coming over’

“We want to have an attack that excites them. We want to have an attack that excites the fans coming over. So we’re really looking forward to, again, spending more time together and connecting around what it’s gonna look like.”

As a Scottish forwards coach, Dalziel will inevitably be compared to Jim Telfer, who had that role when the Lions clinched a memorable 2-1 series win over the Springboks in South Africa in 1997.

Dalziel was asked if he would replicate Telfer’s legendary pre-match speeches and empowering motivational talks, and replied: “Well, I think my kids had the ’97 Lions back on as well with Jim. So he’s a huge inspiration to me as a coach growing up.”

“And we played for the same town in Melrose. So he’ll be somebody I’ll be chatting to over the next couple of months as well.”

Dalziel highlighted how important it is for the coaching staff to be on the same wavelength if they want to be successful in Australia.

“I think it’s about the collective, isn’t it? It’s about us all integrating and getting the best plan on the field. We’re going to have an amazing group of players,” he explained.

“So our job is to facilitate them and give them every opportunity to perform at their absolute best in all the matches leading up to the Tests and be successful in the Tests.”

👀 READ MORE: 👉 Meet the five new British and Irish Lions assistant coaches that form Andy Farrell’s backroom team

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