Farrell Jr looms large over his father's Lions squad selection, even with a creaking body

Andy Farrell gathered his newly appointed British & Irish Lions coaches at the upmarket Rosewood hotel in London on Monday.

- Gerard Meagher

Andy Farrell gathered his newly appointed British & Irish Lions coaches at the upmarket Rosewood hotel in London on Monday. They spent most of Tuesday chewing the fat, then sunk their teeth into a steak dinner at Hawksmoor restaurant. Bread was broken, the next significant signpost towards the summer tour of Australia ticked off.

If there were no major surprises on his coaching staff - three from Ireland and one each from Scotland and England - it felt telling that while you could make a pretty good guess, no one has yet been assigned specific roles. Farrell wants his staff to work in harness rather than worry about precise remits in isolation, to build cohesion rather than concern themselves with detail just yet.

Equally telling was the fact that on day one, the coaches put together a long list of about 75 players in contention for selection when Farrell makes the final call on 8 May. No one was off limits - players based in France, significantly those from England who are seen as unavailable for their national team, will be considered and oh to be a fly on the wall when Owen Farrell came up for discussion.

Like it or not, until the final squad is announced, the subject of Owen Farrell's potential inclusion is the most dominant narrative surrounding this summer's tour. The coach's son, a former England captain made a pariah after the last World Cup, his country's record points scorer, a born winner, a three-time Lion, an experienced fly-half in a field full of greenhorns, perhaps the most polarising figure in the English game.