The Six Nations is just over and the excitement for the 2025 British and Irish Lions already feels at a fever pitch.
While the teams won't be named until May 8th, Andy Farrell's core coaching appointments are expected to be made in the coming days, with contracts set to be signed by the end of this week.
The coaching rumour mill is already in full swing, with multiple reports revealing that Farrell would select a heavily Irish-dominated coaching ticket last weekend.
Both Paul O'Connell and John Fogarty were reported to be the front runners for forwards and scrum coach respectively, while Simon Easterby was also believed to be a shoo-in as defence coach.
Most surprisingly, however, Johnny Sexton who only joined Farrell's Ireland coaching ticket last year was believed to have a shot at being attack coach for the tourists.
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15 March 2025; Ireland interim head coach Simon Easterby, right, speaks with Ireland assistant coach Jonathan Sexton before the Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship match between Italy and Ireland at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Mike Tindall and James Haskell laugh at the prospect of Sexton coaching the Lions
While the prospect is undoubtedly a promising one for Irish supporters, Sexton is yet to hold responsibility for any key area of the game within the Irish set-up, and has so far worked in a consultancy-like role for the Irish out-halves alongside his day job as chief of people for the Ardagh Group.
Discussing the prospect of Sexton heading Down Under on the Good, the Bad, the Rugby, both Mike Tindall and James Haskell were miffed by the idea.
"Head of people is he? He's head of people for a glass company. He hasn't coached, has he? That's not a slight by the way, I don't mind if he's there as a mentor-type role," said England legend Tindall.
His podcast co-host James Haskell, who toured with Sexton in 2017, had a similarly apprehensive approach to the prospect of Sexton heading Down Under, calling it 'utter nonsense'.
I doubt he'll go, I think that's utter nonsense.
It just reminded me, when we interviewed and spoke to him, he was like: he doesn't want anything to do with coaching, he works in the glass factory and doesn't care.
Someone has made that up, Johnny Sexton will absolutely not be involved in the Lions tour.
While across the Irish Sea, the idea might seem completely unfounded, here it is at least slightly more believable.
Sexton joined Andy Farrell's coaching ticket ahead of last year's November Internationals and has been highly praised for both his work with the squad's up-and-coming out-halves and with the wider attack group.
Initially, Sexton was rarely spotted completing his coaching role, however, the former Leinster star has become increasingly more prolific over this year's Six Nations, joining the Irish squad for their pre-tournament training camp in Portugal and appearing both in the coaches box and on the field in Ireland's two final games of the Six Nations campaign.
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