Pride without prejudice has Farrell over a family barrel

Whether or not to include his son is among the difficult decisions Lions coach Andy Farrell must make before he reveals his squad this afternoon, writes Harry Latham-Coyle

- Harry Latham-Coyle

A great deal has changed in the 137 years since a rag-tag band of nascent rugby players first set sail for the Antipodes. The 1888 tour of New Zealand and Australia, retrospectively considered the first in the Lions lineage, spanned nearly six months and featured 35 games, beginning and ending on the SS Kaikoura in the docks of Gravesend, with a travelling party that included the only Manxman ever to wear the British and Irish colours. Initial tour captain Robert Seddon did not even make it home, meeting a sad demise after running into difficulty while sculling on the Hunter River.

One does not even look that far back to chart the changing course of a perhaps antiquated concept. As recently as 1997, those selected were left waiting for a Lions letter, with a mischievous Austin Healey hiding the invite of flatmate Will Greenwood, leaving the then uncapped centre to find out about the honour of a lifetime from a Sky Sports reporter in the Welford Road car park.

Things will be rather different this afternoon as the 2025 hopefuls discover their fate. Across a two-hour live show at the O2 Arena in front of perhaps more than 2,000 fans, Andy Farrell’s squad will be unveiled in the latest step in the rampant commercialisation of one of rugby’s best-performing and enduring brands. Alongside those who have paid for the privilege to hear 38 or so names read out by Ieuan Evans, a great many more will tune in via the Lions’ broadcast partners for a grand meeting that could have been an email; an administrative necessity given the pomp and platform that the quadrennial adventure demands.