Bernard Jackman believes Andy Farrell's time away in charge of the British & Irish Lions for the 2025 tour to Australia will have numerous positive ramifications for Ireland.
The long-expected developement that the Ireland head coach would be at the helm of the Lions next year was confirmed on Thursday and it means that the Englishman will temporarily step aside from his current role following the Autumn Nations Series later this year.
The World Rugby coach of the year will work exclusively with the Lions from 1 December this year until the end of the Lions' Australian tour, before returning to the Irish set-up in August of 2025. Either Paul O'Connell or Simon Easterby will likely step up to the role of interim head coach in his absence.
RTÉ Rugby analyst Jackman said the timing was right for Farrell on a personal level to take the Lions top job and that he would be better for the experience when he resumed his Ireland duties.
.@BernardJackman believes Andy Farrell being appointed Lions head coach is "massive for him personally and a great tribute to Irish rugby as well. He'll come back fresh, mentally, having worked with different coaches and players..." #Lions2025 pic.twitter.com/AsnSi5kcAL
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) January 11, 2024
"It is the pinnacle, bar winning a World Cup but certainly he's been part of it twice. He was part of Warren Gatland's coaching staff on two different tours - 2013 and 2017 - and he sat out in 2021 because he felt it wasn't right having just taken over (Ireland) and was building towards a World Cup in France," he said on RTÉ's Six One News.
"Him getting that chance is massive for him personally. I think it's a great tribute to Irish rugby as well and the IRFU should be applauded for allowing him to take that sabbatical and he'll come back from that Lions tour fresh mentally having worked with different coaches, different players and hopefully coming back to help Ireland then push on to the next World Cup which is in Australia as well."
He added that the absence is unlikely to be particularly disruptive to Ireland's momentum.
"Farrell is there for that initial stage of the rebuild after the World Cup. He has the Six Nations, the November internationals and then he misses just one Six Nations campaign really, so I don't see an issue with it and it will also give the IRFU a chance to assess if it is Simon Easterby or Paul O'Connell, whether they're the person to take over long-term from Farrell."
As for that very question of who will step in during Farrell's time away, Jackman pointed to the example of Wales who appointed Rob Howley as interim head coach to cover for Gatland's absence.
"You look at that Irish staff, you've Simon Easterby who's probably the most experienced and probably the most likely to do it," he said.
"I don't think Farrell will raid his current staff to be part of the Lions tour. I think it's better for Ireland and probably the compromise with the IRFU would be stability here.
"But there is certainly one Irishman who may be part of it and I think Felix Jones, who's now taken over as defence coach of England, (went to) back-to-back World Cups with South Africa as part of the coaching staff there, he could be someone who has an integral role to play with Andy Farrell when he does select that team."
While the tour to Australia, it's still a year and a half away, the Lions will be favourites given the struggles that the Wallabies have endured, capped by a pool stage exit at the World Cup last October.
"There's a lot of talent in Australia and I suppose the next step for them is finding their new coach and you would like to think that they will be ready to give us a real Lions test series," Jackman said.
"But certainly at the moment, you would say it's a tour that's very winnable from an Andy Farrell point of view."
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