Former Ireland head coach Eddie O'Sullivan has warned Lions boss Andy Farrell of the pitfalls of selecting "10 or 11 Irish guys" in the Test series, especially if it ends in defeat.
The Lions have won all four games played down under so far, following a Dublin defeat to Argentina, but pressure has started to come on the former rugby league star after patchy and uninspiring performances in their recent victories over the NSW Waratahs and the ACT Brumbies.
Speaking on this week’s RTÉ Rugby Podcast, O’Sullivan feels it’s hard to split the fact it is a squad, both in coaching and playing, that is dominated by Farrell’s successful Irish side, and could lead to pressure at every turn.
"Threading across all these selections is that if Andy Farrell ends up with 10 or 11 Irish guys on the team, they cannot lose," O'Sullivan said.
"If they lose with 10 or 11 Irish guys, he will get eviscerated," said the former Ireland head coach.
"This is a very heavy Irish Lions tour. I’m not just talking about the number of players, but practically the whole staff is Irish.
"So it becomes a green tour if he does that, and then, if they lose the first test with 10 or 11 Irish guys, it will be chaos."
It is a risk Andy Farrell may take, and as O’Sullivan recognises, it will largely come from a place in trust, which Farrell’s Irish contingent have earned over the past five and a half years of his reign.
"He [Andy Farrell] might think his best team against Australia is 10 or 11 Irish guys who he knows really well, who he can trust, and who he knows will go to the well for him.
"He knows what he is going to get out of them exactly. They’re familiar with his thinking, they’re familiar with his rugby philosophy.
"But if he pulls the trigger on that, he is going to have to deliver. That is what’s going to be in the back of his mind, you can’t get away from that", added O’Sullivan.
The former Ireland head coach was part of Clive Woodward’s backroom staff for the 2005 tour of New Zealand, one that went down in infamy in the years following, and knows the hazards and pressures of a Lions tour.
"If they lost this test series, it would be worse than 2005", said O’Sullivan who was one of seven assistant coaches on that tour of New Zealand.
"I was there, and at least we were playing in New Zealand, and that New Zealand team were, at that point, the best team in the world, without question.
"That’s the context of it, and now the Lions are nervy and edgy against a team that they should beat.
"There’s a lot pressure building on this tour now."
"If they lose with 10 or 11 Irish guys, he will get eviscerated..."@TheRealEddieOS on the pressure facing Andy Farrell's Irish-heavy Lions ahead of next week's first Test🦁🇦🇺
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 10, 2025
📺🎧 Full RTÉ Rugby pod: https://t.co/t7NqJCHPYM pic.twitter.com/LlPyfNlzZc
On Thursday, after an injury doubt was cast over Scottish full-back Blair Kinghorn, Farrell called up Naas clubman Jamie Osborne to the travelling party. With that inclusion, the Leinster utility-back becomes the 17th Irish international in the squad, and 13th from Leinster alone.
This follows last week’s call-up for England centurion fly-half Owen Farrell, who replaced Saracens teammate Elliot Daly, despite a lukewarm season at Racing 92. For O’Sullivan, this call is more about the depth chart at 10 than anything else.
"I think bringing Owen Farrell in is basically an admission that he [Andy Farrell] has lost confidence in Fin Smith and Marcus Smith. He knows that Finn Russell is his starting 10, but I think he went out with the idea that his pecking order would have been Finn Russell, then Fin Smith, then Marcus Smith.
"I think he’s found that Fin Smith probably isn’t up to that level yet.
"Then what happened is Elliot Daly gets hurt, and he sees an opportunity.
"Owen Farrell won’t bat an eyelid coming into a Lions test, and he can cover the midfield in terms of both 10 and 12."
As is often the case with Lions tours, the selection game is what draws attention more than the tactical nuance, with Farrell junior and Osborne the latest calls to bring attention, and potential scrutiny, onto the Lions coaching staff.
Akin to Rassie Erasmus calling up out-half Handre Pollard for hooker Malcolm Marx back at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, as O’Sullivan cites, sometimes you have to take the opportunity to make squad changes where you see fit.
The Lions face an AUNZ Invitational XV side on Saturday morning in the final run out before the eagerly anticipated first test with the Wallabies on Saturday, 19 July.
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