Sam Warburton: "Names that come to mind are Gregor Townsend, Steve Borthwick, Andy Farrell. Farrell would be frontrunner, but he's got a fantastic role at Ireland, so whether he wants to relinquish that for six to 12 months, there's conversations that need to be had"
Thursday 2 November 2023 15:22, UK
Two-time British and Irish Lions tour captain Sam Warburton has told Sky Sports Ireland's Andy Farrell is the frontrunner to be the next Lions head coach, but Scotland's Gregor Townsend and England's Steve Borthwick are also options.
The Lions go to Australia in the summer of 2025, with all nine games of the tour between June 28 2025-August 2 2025 live and exclusive on Sky Sports.
The agreement will see Sky Sports broadcast its eighth consecutive Lions Tour, with the partnership starting in 1997 with the iconic 2-1 series win over South Africa.
Former Wales back-row Warburton was Lions captain the last time the famous touring side visited Australia in 2013, winning the series 2-1, while he also led the Lions in their memorable series draw vs a world champion All Blacks side in 2017.
Wales head coach Warren Gatland has announced he will not be putting his name forward for 2025, having led the Lions on their last three tours to Australia (2013), New Zealand (2017) and South Africa (2021).
"You've got to look at the Home Nations and people who have got some Lions experience in the past," Warburton told Sky Sports when asked who should be the next the head coach.
"The names that come to mind are people like Gregor Townsend, who was assistant coach on the last tour [to South Africa in 2021 behind closed doors], Steve Borthwick who has been an assistant, and Andy Farrell who has been a defence coach and assistant coach of the Lions as well.
"These three guys will all know what it takes and the pressure of a Lions tour.
"Andy Farrell has the most success as a head coach at international level, and he would be the obvious choice, but he's got a fantastic role at Ireland with one of the best teams in the world there and they are building something special.
"Even though they might have fallen at the World Cup quarter-final hurdle, they are going to be a force in world rugby for quite some time.
"So whether he wants to relinquish that role for the six-to-12 month period that you need, there's a lot of conversations that need to be had. But if you were picking it as a fantasy team now, Andy Farrell would be the frontrunner, given the fact he's been on two tours [2013, 2017].
"He was the defence coach for the two tours I was on, and without doubt one of the best coaches I've had."
Warburton, whose final match as a professional rugby player came as a Lion vs New Zealand in 2017 before retiring at 28 due to injury, said becoming a Lion for any player from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales is the "pinnacle of the sport".
"It's the pinnacle. The Lions is the one where it's actually still quite a surreal thing for myself. You have to pinch yourself when you consider the mass of players you have to bypass to get into that Test XV, it is the pinnacle.
"And what's lovely when you get there as well is, how all the players are in every Lions. Everybody is so desperate to get on that tour, and I've always spoken highly of and really fought for Lions tours.
"I think it would be an absolute disaster if the Lions tours were not going to continue, which is why I'm so glad that the powers that be have cemented it into the rugby calendar.
"From a players perspective, it's an absolutely enormous privilege. It is the pinnacle of what you can do in the sport.
"There's a lot of pressure, but it is absolutely worth it. It's a one-off special tour that you get in sport."
As captain the last time the Lions faced the Wallabies in Australia in 2013, Warburton talked through some of his memories from that tour, and the power being a Lion has on competing players joining together in one side.
"That was a baptism of fire for me. I was only 24-years-of-age as captain of the Lions in my first tour, so I didn't know what to expect," he said.
"But I was so lucky that on that tour, even though it's the highest pressure from a captaincy perspective that you'll go through in the highest profile event, it's actually the easiest role as a captain.
"On that tour, you had the likes of Paul O'Connell and Brian O'Driscoll, and you think it's going to be daunting going into a room with all these people, but because everybody puts the Lions first - in rugby there's no egos when you're playing for the Lions, nobody's bigger - those players helped me an enormous amount considering they were 10 years my senior.
"The selectors pick good players, but they pick good people at the same time. Which is very important.
"It's a concept that should never work, bringing four countries together when three months before we've just been knocking bells out of each other in the Six Nations, but you put all those rivalries to one side to put the Lions badge first, because the history of the Lions is just phenomenal.
"When you're there, everybody buys into it and it is such a great experience."
