Andy Farrell who called on his son Owen was a gamble that the lions just didn’t have to take

Not for the first time in its long and distinguished career, Owen Farrell Finds itself polarizing opinion. Love him or hates him, Farrell is rugby’s equivalent of Marmite.

There are people who will always be loyal Pro-Farrell. They point to his 112 caps for England and the fact that he is their record points.

They point to the abundance of trophies he has won for club and country, and the way in which he led England for many years.

The Farrell fanatics will also lean on his wealth of experience and the fact that he has been there and has done it on the largest phases.

This will now be the first fourth Lions tour. In the professional era, only Brian O’Driscoll and Alun Wyn Jones Can agree.

It is clear that he is one of the great ones. His family tree is without a doubt. But all this is based on the idea of ​​Peak Farrell; This ruthless warrior and competitor.

The player who has now arrived late in Australia is not Peak Farrell. To be honest, he is not even close.

He has not played a test match since the World Cup in 2023 after he has been chosen for personal reasons from England.

His move to Racing 92 last season was not going well. Farrell’s form was fragmentary and inconsistent. He also had injury problems.

After just a year in Paris, it was decided by all parties that it would be best for Farrell to return to England and join Saracens again.

But without real form to talk about, the 33-year-old is granted in the middle of a Lions tour in Australia. Out of nowhere? Yes, and something else.

There is often a danger that people become too parochial with things like this. It is something that we are probably all guilty of to a certain extent.

Of course it would have been great to see that Scotland Tom Jordan called as soon as Elliot Daly was excluded due to injury.

Jordan has been a revelation for Scotland in the past year and his form would certainly have earned a call-up.

There is also a very plausible argument that his versatility to cover multiple positions in the backline, similar to Daly, made him a more natural fit as a tool.

But it’s not really about Jordan or one of the other hopeful people who are overlooked. This is about the circus that Andy Farrell has now created by choosing his son.

You can bet that your lower dollar that every press conference is now being dominated by questions about Farrell Jr.

There will be a shouting in some media circles to automatically go directly into the test team.

Is that really what the lions need now? Andy Farrell has created a drama where there really didn’t have to be.

Given how it could disrupt the balance of the team and the trust of certain other players, it is a risk that he really didn’t have to take.

There are already a few wild theories that do the rounds that the selection of Farrell JR on Finn Russell will exert pressure for the TOOT.

It should be clear that the world of its axis should fall for Russell not to start at 10 hours when the lions in the first test in Brisbane are confronted in the first test in Brisbane in fourteen days.

But you wonder what it means for Marcus Smith and Fin Smith? It leaves the clear impression that the head coach just doesn’t really feel like it.

When the serious stuff comes, he will return to one of the old timers – who happens to be his son – as cover on the couch.

The reality is this. Without the fact that his old man was head coach, Owen Farrell would not be near these Lions tour for a long time.

It is a selection based on sentiment instead of content. The head coach of Lions would find out for a suggestion of nepotism, but this is how it looks.

Pure in terms of form, there is simply no way in which someone could possibly argue for Farrell JR to be selected.

Yes, he will bring leadership and a winning mentality, but have the lions not yet received an abundance of it? For example, Russell has just won a triplication with a bath. So many of the Ireland players have won Grand Slams, Six Nations titles and various other trophies with Leinster and Munster.

Maro Itoje is a serial winner for club and country. Although he will welcome his friend and Saracens Club-Mate Farrell in the camp, it can disturb the dynamics of the team.

It will not undermine the captain of Itoje. But it can lead to many other players becoming fake as the call-up of Farrell JR means that they start to miss in test selection.

Even in his splendor, Farrell was a relatively safe player. His game was about control, structure, tactical expertise and a physical lead.

For those who hope that the lions would embrace a more extensive and modern game plan, this feels like a retrograde step.

What will he add to the group they don’t have yet? Why did Farrell SR chose to create an off-field drama?

Because you can guarantee that the Aussies will jump on this. They will jump off the accusations of nepotism.

They will look at Farrell JR on every occasion, play on his notorious short wick and tendency for the strange naughty late tackle.

He can justify his selection well by kicking the winning points in one of the three test matches. Given his quality and experience, nobody would be surprised.

But in the here and now, fourteen days of the series that starts, it feels like Andy Farrell has created a lot of noise for no good reason.