Richard Wigglesworth: England assistant coach set to join British and Irish Lions staff for Australia tour

England senior assistant coach Richard Wigglesworth is set to be named among the British and Irish Lions coaching staff for this summer's Australia tour.

Lions head coach Andy Farrell's core coaching team will be announced on Wednesday with Wigglesworth likely to be joined by Simon Easterby, who led Ireland in the Six Nations as Farrell prepared for the Lions trip.

Confirmed roles have already been awarded to Ireland's strength and conditioning coach Aled Walters and ex-Ireland performance director David Nucifora.

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Former England scrum-half Wigglesworth took over from current national team chief Steve Borthwick as Leicester boss in 2022 on an interim basis.

He then linked up with Borthwick's England coaching staff the following summer and became senior assistant coach in October 2024.

Farrell will reveal his Lions squad on May 8 in front of over 2,000 fans at London's O2 Arena ahead of a game against Argentina in Dublin on June 20.

The Tests against Australia take place in Brisbane on July 19, Melbourne on July 26 and Sydney on August 2, with the tour to also include five warm-up matches before the series opener and a midweek game prior to the second Test.

Expect Wigglesworth to be involved in attacking strategy and the kicking game

Sky Sports News' Eleanor Roper...

"Let's tell you a bit about Richard Wigglesworth and his credentials. He picked up 33 England caps as a player, and I think the most impressive stat is his number of Premiership appearances: 449.

"He was working as a coach alongside Steve Borthwick at Leicester Tigers and Borthwick then got the England job. Wigglesworth stayed on and was put in interim charge of Leicester, and later went on to join up with Borthwick and form part of the England coaching staff.

"Initially that was as an attack coach, but then ultimately he got promoted to become a senior assistant coach looking more broadly at the England attacking strategy.

"The news is that he's going to join up with Farrell, but we're yet to find out exactly what his role is going to look like.

"Obviously, you'd expect him to be involved in the attacking strategy, in the kicking game, but we'll get more details on that from Andy Farrell on Wednesday.

"This news follows England finishing second in the Six Nations, finishing with a 10-try victory over Wales, so it's great news for Wigglesworth and for Borthwick and indeed the wider England set-up."

Lions expected to name Ireland-heavy coaching set-up

Sky Sports News' Eleanor Roper...

"There's always been an expectation it would be quite an Ireland-heavy coaching set-up and it's not really a surprise when you consider Andy Farrell is currently on a sabbatical from his role as the Ireland head coach.

"He's going to want to work with coaches that he likes, that he trusts, but we can give you a couple of the names that are being thrown around: Simon Easterby, currently in interim charge of Ireland following Farrell's sabbatical and previously their defence coach, is widely expected to be involved.

"Andrew Goodman, the Ireland backs coach, is another one expected to join. And John Fogarty, again another Irish name, is expected to go on the tour as the scrum coach. It's not surprising when you consider just how brilliant Ireland have been of late.

"We already know who Farrell's backroom staff are going to be. He's already named them in David Nucifora, he'll go as the general manager and has got brilliant intel on Australia, which will be crucial this summer.

"Aled Walters is head of athletic performance and Vinny Hammond is going to go as head of analysis. He's toured as a Lions analyst in 2017 and in 2021 so he's been there, done it before and knows the Lions tour inside-out."