British & Irish Lions Coaching Team Announced

The British & Irish Lions have announced that Steve Borthwick, Andy Farrell and Rob Howley will be joining Head Coach Warren Gatland as part of the backroom team to tour New Zealand next summer.

Steve Borthwick is currently forwards coach for England, leading the pack in the current resurgence of English rugby under head coach Eddie Jones. Borthwick has been a kingpin in the transformation of the scrum and line-out into key strengths for England whilst they have been putting together this record equaling winning run of 13 straight victories.

Defence Coach Andy Farrell previously toured with the Lions on the successful 2013 tour to Australia with Gatland,  He is currently in charge of the defence for Ireland under Joe Schmidt, enjoying victories over all three southern hemisphere giants this autumn including the All Blacks for the first time in Irish history.

Rob Howley is the backs coach for Wales and is also currently interim Head Coach whilst Gatland is seconded to the Lions.  Howley has worked closely with Gatland for many years, including the 2013 Lions, and their understanding of how they would like to play the game is clear.   Howley’s departure from the Wales squad leaves the WRU with a few problems for their summer tour of the Pacific Islands with both Head Coach and Backs Coach away with the Lions.

Head Coach Gatland confirmed that some additional specialist coaches will be announced in the next few months, but nothing has been decided just yet.

The British & Irish Lions are set to tour New Zealand in June and July 2017 playing seven warm up matches and three test matches against the All Blacks.