British & Irish Lions Coach - The Alternatives

With an established shortlist consisting of four national head coaches, The Rugby Pod looks at some alternative options to lead the Lions in New Zealand.

Listening to Jim Telfer’s iconic pre match speech before the South Africa test in 1997, gives a sense of the passion behind being a Lion. The emotion in that pre-match talk is unscripted brilliance. The Lions went on to win the Series against all odds and with it, help guarantee the future of this great tradition.

In the next few weeks, the 2017 Lions coach will be decided upon and they will face the daunting challenge of a tour to New Zealand, with the hopes of four nations on their shoulders. The candidates so far have been limited to the coaches of the Wales, Ireland, England & Scotland.

Each coach can make a compelling case. Gatland has a successful tour to Australia under his belt, Schmidt is one of the shrewdest coaches in World Rugby, Cotter has a wealth of experience and success, whilst Eddie Jones’ recent exploits may well see him canonized someday.

Despite, the positives each of these coaches bring, they also carry a negative which could ultimately hinder the squad. Prejudice. Having coached their national team, they’re well aware of the strengths and weaknesses of their home players. Whilst they can claim to be unbiased, it’s almost impossible, even if it’s subliminal, they will have their favourites based on relationships built long before the squad assembles.

Added to this, after this Lions Tour, each coach will probably return to their national team. Their ‘Day job’. Using the Lions Tour to gain an advantage in this regard is something that most coaches will do and it doesn’t necessarily benefit the team. During the last tour, Gatland cheekily remarked that appointing Andy Farrell as defence coach would give him an insight into England’s defensive structure for the Six Nations.

Gatland’s bias for Welsh players during the tour, also put a sour taste in the mouth of many, and while he was vindicated with a series win, this could undoubtedly have been achieved with different playing personnel. Let’s not forget, The Lions were playing an Australian team in turmoil.

Coaches from the four home nations should be involved without doubt, but it would be great to see a less biased head coach from a non-Lions national team selected.

With this in mind, we’ve pulled together a shortlist of a few candidates, but would love to hear your thoughts. Apart from the usual suspects, who could do a job on the All Blacks?

Shortlist:

Graham Henry – Well this would ruffle a few feathers. Few people, if any, know more about All Black Rugby than this man. He also knows The Lions quite well too. We don’t need to go through his C.V, suffice to say he is qualified!

Ian McGeechan – Nobody epitomises Lions Rugby more than “Geech” At 69 years old, he may be a long shot, but with the right coaches around him, it could be the perfect blend of experience and youth.

Nick Mallet – Turned Italy into a competitive team with limited resources and is a very smart coach by all accounts. He is a passionate man and would definitely add some bite to the Lions.

Mark McCall – He has created the best team in Europe and has experience working with Paul Gustard, who we would like to see act as defensive coach. There are questions about his style of play, but winning is all important in this case!

Connor O’Shea – Having just taken on the Italy coaching job, he is probably not a runner, but coaches have been known to change their minds when opportunities arise. Just look at Eddie Jones! He would be the most organised and well prepared coach and undoubtedly pull together a great back room team.

Who would be your first choice to lead The British & Irish Lions?

Written by Fred Culazzo for www.TheRugbyPod.com