DAN BIGGAR: I just don't understand the decision to add Owen Farrell to world-class Lions squad

I just don’t understand the decision to add Owen Farrell to the Lions squad.

He’s been called in to replace Elliot Daly but they are totally different players. It’s a real shame for Daly to break his arm because he’s been playing well but he wasn’t going to start in the Tests.

Daly’s strength is his versatility because he can play outside centre, wing and full-back. He had a chance to provide cover on the bench but Farrell doesn’t play any of those positions. Farrell is a 10 who can also play at inside centre.

The Lions already have three world-class 10s in Finn Russell, Fin Smith and Marcus Smith. And they have two world-class inside centres in Sione Tuipulotu and Bundee Aki.

If it’s all about having a versatile option on your bench for a 6-2 split of forwards and backs, then Marcus Smith is a better option for that role, because he covers full-back.

Farrell has played hardly any rugby this year because he’s been injured. His move to France didn’t work out and he’s come back to Saracens early. It just doesn’t look great.

The tour felt really positive and together but now every press conference question is going to be about Owen Farrell. Every camera in the stadium is going to be pointing at him – whether he’s on the pitch or not - and every journalist is going to be writing about him.

Blair Kinghorn has just won the Top14 and will be making his Lions debut on Saturday but that won’t be the story.

Some really good rugby has been played over the last couple of weeks but now everyone is going to be talking about Owen. They’re just going to have to accept that.

I don’t have any problem about coaches picking their sons, so I’m not going to jump on the nepotism bandwagon. However, it will just add to the noise.

If Andy Farrell and the management team are expecting it to blow over quietly then they’re being quite naïve.

Let’s be clear, I really like Owen as a bloke. When we first toured together in 2017, I found him quite difficult to talk to about life away from rugby.

He became a dad before we toured in 2021 and he had really relaxed as a guy and we spent a lot more time together, talking a lot about golf over a coffee.

He’s a surprisingly good story-teller – most of them being about his old Saracens team-mate Baz Barrington!

No one doubts that Owen Farrell is a world-class player and one of the greatest players that England has ever had, but he hasn’t played international rugby since 2023. His last Test was at the World Cup, when I was still playing for Wales!

If a 10 or 12 went down then you could just about justify it because that’s the position Farrell plays. But there’s little doubt that Finn Russell is the starting 10.

Does Farrell get on the bench? Do you pick him over Fin Smith who has been playing really well for England? I don’t think so.

We’ve been praising Russell all year. He looks like the main man. It feels like this is his moment and you don’t know what kind of impact Farrell coming in will have on that dynamic.

He’s a huge personality and he has a big influence on whatever squad he’s in.

This is someone who captained every team he’s played for so he’s not going to sit on the back benches.

It’s all well and good saying you want his winning mentality but he’s come from a struggling Racing team. Australia are ranked eighth in the world.

Everyone thinks the Lions are going to win the series. They’re not playing the Springboks. Do they really need Owen Farell’s edge to find the winning formular?

If they want someone who has been flying for their club all year, there’s a guy sitting in Argentina on 99 caps called George Ford.

Farrell is keen to go into coaching so perhaps there’s a case for him sharing his experience with some of the younger guys on tour, but we’re not talking about academy guys here, we’re talking about British and Irish Lions.

When you stack everything up, I don’t know why you would make this call.