Lawrence Dallaglio: Lions year adds extra spice to Champions Cup

As the closest thing to Test rugby, Lawrence Dallaglio says the Investec Champions Cup gives players a golden opportunity to further their claims for inclusion in the British & Irish Lions squad that will tour Australia in 2025.

Dallaglio, who will be part of Premier Sports’ commentary team for this Friday’s Champions Cup opener between Bath and La Rochelle, believes that an already special competition has been given “extra spice” this year because of the Lions factor.

For current non-internationals operating outside of the Gallagher Premiership and the United Rugby Championship, such as Toulouse’s Jack Willis, it is a rare chance to put themselves in the shop window and inside the mind of Lions head coach Andy Farrell.

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“The competition has a little bit of extra spice because, as of last weekend, Andy Farell is officially the Lions coach. And I’m sure he’d be the first to admit that whilst international rugby is a great barometer for his Lions selection so is this competition,” the RWC 2023 winner said.

“Being able to be part of a team that goes away from home and wins and plays well is as good a tick in the box as any international match, so I am sure Andy and his coaches will be casting their eyes over matches this weekend and over the course of this tournament.

“There is no reason to suggest that he couldn’t select the likes of Courtney Lawes, who is playing in Pro D2 (with Brive, who aren’t involved in Europe), and Owen Farrell (Racing 92).

“But if you look at the performances of the likes of Marcus Smith and Finn Russell, and Fin Smith, Owen Farrell has got it all to do.

“But a player of his quality is always going to be in the mix to get picked.”

Being able to choose players from four countries, even players who’ve retired from international rugby, or those from a different code, puts the Lions head coach in an unenviable position in terms of squad selection.

“I had no rest period after the World Cup in 2003, we went on to win the Premiership title and the European Cup that year with Wasps, and then a day later I was on a plane back to New Zealand captaining England against New Zealand and Australia,” Dallaglio remarked.

“When I got back, I retired from international rugby just for my own mental health really because I was so fed up with the lack of thought process that the RFU had for the international fixture list, it was just relentless, the continued requests for England post-World Cup.

“But then I got picked for the Lions by Clive Woodward. So there is no reason why Andy Farrell can’t look at all sorts of players.

“He’s got to pick the squad that he believes will give the British & Irish Lions the best possible chance of winning a Test series in Australia. If that means picking Owen Farrell or Jack Willis, or any other international player that’s playing overseas, or maybe even a player that’s not playing international rugby, then so be it.

“Don’t forget the Lions can do whatever they want. Ian McGeechan chose Will Greenwood before he’d even been capped. So he’s got a quite wide-ranging remit and criteria for who he picks.”

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