Analysis: 'Surprise selection Dalziel will bring a lot to Lions'
The selection of John Dalziel on Andy Farrell's British and Irish Lions coaching team for the summer tour of Australia was a bit of a surprise. It only really emerged in the last 24 hours that he was a contender to go.We know the staff has an Ireland tinge to it with Farrell in charge and Simon Easterby, who is going to run the defence, scrum guru John Fogerty and attack coach Andrew Goodman all confirmed.But the inclusion of Scotland forwards coach Dalziel and England assistant Richard Wigglesworth means Farrell is looking outside Ireland for some other influences.Four years ago Steve Tandy and Gregor Townsend both went to South Africa, so there's been a good Scottish representation on the last couple of tours and Dalziel will be there primarily to work with the forwards as Farrell looks to tap into as much of the home nations' expertise as he possibly can.It's a solid appointment from Farrell. Scotland are often spoken about that they don't have the forward pack to go with their backline. Dalziel isn't working with the same kind of strength and depth as, say, an England coach would be, but Scotland's lineout has been super solid.They've certainly upped their physicality over the last few years to be able to compete with the bigger sides so I think Dalziel will bring a lot to this tour, although it has come a little bit from leftfield.I think there was a wide expectation that Paul O'Connell would be the forwards coach. This is a guy who's who's been coaching Ireland, who have won Six Nations titles recently, and O'Connell of course is steeped in Lions history as a player - three times a tourist - so he ticked all the boxes, but Farrell has instead turned to Dalziel.It's a massive boost to Dalziel and his burgeoning coaching career and a feather in the Scottish Rugby Union's cap as well.
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