England's senior coach Richard Wigglesworth is expected to join the coaching staff of the British and Irish Lions this summer for their tour to Australia. Lions head coach Andy Farrell has recruited the 41-year-old former England scrum-half to be part of his predominantly Irish-led coaching team.
Read Also...:
Volta a Catalunya 2025: Matthew Brennan wins stage one for first World Tour victory
03-25, 2025
England U21 4-2 Portugal U21: Ethan Nwaneri scores on full debut
03-25, 2025
We will get there' - who were winners & losers for Tuchel's England?
03-25, 2025
Emma Raducanu reaches Miami Open quarter-finals with dominant win over Amanda Anisimova
03-25, 2025It is understood that Ireland's interim head coach Simon Easterby will also join Farrell's team, while Ireland's attack coach Andrew Goodman and scrum coach John Fogarty are also under consideration. The Lions' core coaching team is set to be officially announced on Wednesday. Farrell has already appointed Ireland's head of athletic performance, Aled Walters, and former Ireland performance director David Nucifora, who currently holds a similar role with Scotland, to key positions.
Initially, it appeared that no England coaches would be involved in the Australia tour, despite England's strong performance in the Six Nations, finishing second only to France. Following England's final-day victory over Wales in Cardiff, England head coach Steve Borthwick stated that he had not received any approaches from the Lions regarding any of his assistant coaches. However, it is understood that Farrell contacted Borthwick in the week following the Six Nations to inquire about Wigglesworth's availability.
Wigglesworth's appointment as a Lions coach will be the latest step in his burgeoning coaching career. The seven-time Premiership winner coached Leicester Tigers during his playing days before taking over as head coach of the Tigers in late 2022, succeeding Borthwick, who had departed to coach England. Wigglesworth then joined Borthwick's England coaching team the following summer and was promoted to England's senior coach in October 2024.
Following the confirmation of the coaching team on Wednesday, Farrell is scheduled to announce his squad on Thursday, May 8th. The Lions will face Argentina in Dublin on Friday, June 20th. The team will then travel to Australia for five warm-up matches before the first of three Test matches against Australia's Wallabies in Brisbane on Saturday, July 19th. A midweek match will precede the second Test in Melbourne on July 26th, with the third Test taking place in Sydney on August 2nd.
