Dan Biggar believes British and Irish Lions head coach Andy Farrell has been vindicated by his selections, and compared him to his Lions predecessor Warren Gatland.
Farrell and his coaching staff were under pressure from the outset of their tour after suffering a 28-24 defeat in their first match against Argentina at the Aviva Stadium – their first Lions defeat in a tour opener since 1971.
However, the tourists have been in excellent form since arriving in Australia as they have won all their matches Down Under and are on the verge of a 3-0 Test series whitewash if they beat the Wallabies in Sydney on Saturday.
Biggar appeared on The Rugby Pod podcast on Sunday and was asked by the show’s host and producer Rob Graham whether Farrell got the big calls right, referencing selection decisions around Owen Farrell being called up, Jac Morgan not being named in the matchday squad for the first Test and the big Irish contingent who were included for the second Test.
‘It’s a results business’
When it was put to him that, despite Farrell getting those selection calls right, it did not really matter as they were still going to win regardless, because of how much better they were than the Wallabies, Biggar replied: “I think there’s an element of both. I do think sometimes it’s a results business. Especially in a Lions series, it’s a results business.
“And if the result had gone the other way, how the reaction would have been. But ultimately, you have to say that Andy Farrell and his coaching team have been vindicated because they’ve won the series. Now, no matter how you do it, nobody will care about that.”
Biggar feels the end result of winning the Test series is all that matters and drew a comparison to Farrell’s current situation and Gatland’s in Australia in 2013.
“Nobody will be saying in 10, 15, 20, 25 years time that, ‘Oh yeah, but the Wallabies weren’t great’,” he said. “And maybe he should have picked this guy or that guy, et cetera.
“A little bit like Gats, you compare Gats almost in 2013, probably the biggest Lions selection of all time. You could argue, dropping Brian O’Driscoll for Jonathan Davis.
“Do you know what I mean? It’s like, if that hadn’t gone the way of the Lions, then all of a sudden I think there’s huge, potentially the way that it falls out is very different.
“But Gats has been completely vindicated from that, as has Andy Farrell.
“And ultimately it’s a results business. They won by three points and eight points.”
He added: “Are the Lions better than 11 points over two games? As a team, you probably think, yes, certainly in the first Test, they were probably 20 points better, 25 points better.
‘Andy Farrell has picked the right people’
“But ultimately, Andy Farrell has picked the right people. And you even go back to sort of like the Owen Farrell situation. And I was one who said, I didn’t understand the timing. I had no problem with Owen Farrell almost being on tour, almost like picking from the start.
“If you wanted Owen Farrell in there, no issues from his experience and his CV, et cetera.
“But it was almost just the timing of replacing Elliot Daly that was the confusing part for me. But then you look at last night, Marcus Smith, whether he failed his HIA or not or whatever, but they had Blair Kinghorn on the bench, which then meant that they needed a 10-12 cover probably.
“And Owen Farrell fits that bill as good as anybody. So Andy Farrell and his coaching guys would be saying, ‘Well, yeah, okay. It probably wasn’t like-for-like for Elliot Daly, and maybe it could have been handled slightly differently, whatever.
“But now nobody’s caring because it was the right decision to have 10-12 cover on the bench. I just think, look, it’s all about winning. You have to say ultimately, it almost felt like last night was like the Lions’ moment in Australia, wasn’t it?
“Because up until then it had been decent, but I think I left the stadium in Suncorp last week thinking, not quite sure a Lions series first Test should feel this way.
“I left the stadium last night, the complete opposite.
“Comparing the emotions of last night at the MCG, an hour after kick off, compared to Suncorp in Brisbane, an hour after final whistle. And you think that’s what Lions Test matches are about.
“That’s what Lions series are about. The drama, the atmosphere, the jeopardy. You know, that game was back and forth almost all game, wasn’t it?”