Andy Farrell calling up his son Owen was a gamble the Lions simply didn't have to take

NOT for the first time in his long and distinguished career, Owen Farrell finds himself polarising opinion. Love him or hate him, Farrell is rugby’s equivalent of Marmite.

There are those who will always be staunchly pro-Farrell. They point to his 112 caps for England and the fact he is their record points scorer.

They point to the glut of trophies he has won for club and country, and the way he captained England over many years.

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

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

Clearly, he’s one of the greats. His pedigree is beyond question. But all of this is based on the idea of peak Farrell; this ruthless warrior and competitor.

The player who has now arrived in Australia belatedly is not peak Farrell. In all honesty, he’s not even close.

He has not played any Test match rugby since the World Cup in 2023 after choosing to stand down from England duty for personal reasons.

His moving to Racing 92 last season did not go well. Farrell’s form was patchy and inconsistent. He also had injury issues.

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

Yet, with no real form to speak of, the 33-year-old finds himself being parachuted into the middle of a Lions tour in Australia. Out of the blue? Yeah, and then some.

There’s often a danger that people become too parochial with this kind of stuff. It’s something that we are probably all guilty of to an extent.

Of course, it would have been great to see Scotland’s Tom Jordan called up once Elliot Daly was ruled out due to injury.

Jordan has been a revelation for Scotland over the past year and his form would certainly have been deserving of 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 utility back.

But it’s not really about Jordan or any of the other hopefuls being overlooked. This is about the circus that Andy Farrell has now created by picking his son.

You can bet your bottom dollar that each and every press conference now is going to be dominated by questions about Farrell Jr.

There will be a clamour in some quarters of the media for him to automatically go straight into the Test team.

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

Given how it could upset the balance of the squad and the confidence of certain other players, it’s a risk he really didn’t need to take.

There are already a few wild theories doing the rounds that Farrell Jr’s selection will put pressure on Finn Russell ahead of the Test series starting.

Plainly, the world would need to fall off its axis for Russell not to start at 10 when the Lions face Australia in the first Test in Brisbane in a fortnight.

But you do wonder what it means for the likes of Marcus Smith and Fin Smith? It leaves the distinct impression that the head coach just doesn’t really fancy them.

When the serious stuff comes around, he will revert back to one of the old timers — who also happens to be his son — as cover on the bench.

The reality is this. If it wasn’t for the fact his old man was head coach, Owen Farrell would be nowhere near this Lions tour.

It’s a selection which is based on sentiment rather than substance. The Lions head coach would rail against any suggestion of nepotism, but that’s what it looks like.

Purely in terms of form, there is simply no way anyone could possibly make the case for Farrell Jr to be selected.

Yeah, he will bring leadership and a winning mentality, but have the Lions not already got an abundance of that? Russell, for instance, has just won a treble with 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. Whilst he will welcome his friend and Saracens club-mate Farrell into the camp, it could upset the dynamic of the squad.

It won’t undermine Itoje’s captaincy. But it could cause plenty of other players to become miffed if Farrell Jr’s call-up means they start missing out on Test selection.

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

For those hoping the Lions would embrace a more expansive and modern game plan, this feels like a retrograde step.

What is he going to add to the group that they don’t already have? Why has Farrell Sr chosen to create an off-field drama?

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

They will look to wind up Farrell Jr at every opportunity, playing on his notoriously short fuse and propensity for the odd naughty late tackle.

He may well go on to justify his selection by kicking the winning points in any of the three Test matches. Given his quality and experience, nobody would be surprised.

But, in the here and now, a fortnight out from the series beginning, it feels like Andy Farrell has just created a whole lot of noise for no good reason.