British and Irish Lions coach Andy Farrell said Wednesday that 75 players are still in contention for the tour of Australia just weeks before he names his squad.
Farrell, seconded from his role as Ireland coach, was speaking after naming his five assistant coaches for a tour that features three Tests against the Wallabies.
Ireland’s recent interim head coach Simon Easterby, who deputised for Farrell during this season’s Six Nations, joins him from the Irish set-up along with scrum specialist John Fogarty and backs coach Andrew Goodman.
England deputy Richard Wigglesworth and Scotland forwards coach John Dalziel complete Farrell’s line-up.
The Lions squad comprises leading players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, with Farrell and his team now looking to finalise a squad of around 37 players before an announcement on May 8.
France were this season’s Six Nations champions, but both England and Ireland also won four of their five games and Farrell said plenty of players were still in the race for tour selection.
“We (Farrell and his assistants) came up with about 75 names or something like that,” he said. “Every single one of them deserves to be on that list.
“There’s going to be a hell of a lot of good players that don’t make the plane, and that’s exactly where we wanted to be. We want this to be as competitive as we possibly can.”
The Lions traditionally tour either Australia, New Zealand and South Africa once every four years.
There had been fears Australia, eliminated at the pool stage of the 2023 Rugby World Cup would struggle to provide tough opposition, but they have improved under Joe Schmidt.
“This was always going to be the best of the best,” said Farrell. “The Australians are always going to be tip-top shape by the time the Lions come round.
“This competition, this tour, is going to be as competitive and as exciting as any of the previous ones.”
The Lions have not won a Test series since 2013 in Australia and Farrell said his side would be looking to “right those wrongs”.
The Lions face Argentina in Dublin on June 20 before flying to Australia.
