Owen Farrell is expected to make his first appearance of the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour this weekend.
The former England captain was not named in the initial 38-man travelling squad picked by dad and Lions head coach Andy Farrell in May, but the door always appeared firmly open to a potential late call-up if he could prove his fitness in time.
Owen Farrell was duly drafted in last week as an injury replacement for Saracens team-mate Elliot Daly, whose bright start to the trip was ended by a tour-ending forearm fracture sustained in the 52-12 win over the Queensland Reds in Brisbane in which he was only brought into the team on matchday due to Hugo Keenan suffering with illness.
He joined up with the squad in Sydney on Friday and was watching in the stands at Allianz Stadium on Saturday as the Lions laboured to a scrappy 21-10 victory over the New South Wales Waratahs.
Andy Farrell confirmed after that game that Owen would not feature on Wednesday either against the ACT Brumbies in Canberra as he gets up to speed, having not played since suffering a head injury in Racing 92’s semi-final defeat by Lyon in the Challenge Cup back on May 4.
However, he is likely to play when the Lions complete their preparations for the first Test against Australia in a meeting with a strong AUNZ Invitational XV at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday, having trained fully for the first time on Tuesday at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.
“I wouldn't say he's over the jet lag just yet. I think he was up all night, but haven't we all been through that? But the rest is fine,” Andy Farrell said.
In addition to that head issue that curtailed his 2024/25 campaign early, Owen Farrell’s disappointing lone season in France saw him miss swathes of time with a lingering groin injury that required surgery in November. He has since returned to Saracens on a two-year contract.
The 33-year-old has not played Test rugby since stepping down from England duty in the aftermath of the 2023 World Cup in order to prioritise his and his family’s mental wellbeing.
The current Lions tour is the fourth of Owen Farrell’s illustrious career, a number matched only by Lions greats Brian O’Driscoll, Alun Wyn Jones, Willie John McBride and Mike Gibson, the latter pair going on five each.
