The Prince of Wales has surprised Rob Burrow and Kevin Sinfield by presenting them with their CBEs during a visit to Headingley Stadium.

William paid tribute to the pair’s “phenomenal” efforts in raising funds and awareness for motor neurone disease (MND).

Sinfield and Burrow, who were Leeds Rhinos team-mates during their playing careers, were made CBEs in the New Year Honours List for services to MND awareness.

Sinfield has raised more than £15million since his friend Burrow was diagnosed with MND, an incurable and life-limiting condition, in December 2019.

Last year, Sinfield, 43, completed the “7 in 7 in 7” challenge by completing seven ultramarathons in seven cities in as many days.

On Thursday, William met Burrow and Sinfield at the stadium, and presented them with their CBEs in front of their wives and the former’s three children.

After talking to the two friends in the dressing room at Headingley, the prince said: “I’ve brought a special couple of things up with me to give you today.

“I did check with Kevin to make sure you didn’t want to go down to London to receive this, but I brought your CBEs up here to give to you today if that’s OK, while you’re in your home, in Leeds, surrounded by your family and friends. I thought today was a good day.”

William told Burrow: “The most amount of thank yous and congratulations for all the inspirational work you’ve done Rob, you’ve been amazing and everyone’s so proud of you.

“We’ve been following your case and all the money you’ve been raising, and you’re changing people’s lives with MND.”

Presenting Sinfield with his CBE, the prince said: “A huge, huge congratulations. It’s been amazing what you’ve done. It really is.

“You’ve raised so much the profile of MND. Your brotherly bond and relationship between the two of you has been so amazing to watch – an inspiration to everyone to go, like ‘this is how we help each other’.

“The groundswell you’ve created in terms of fundraising and looking after each other and for MND is huge. Make sure you look after your knees, your hips, and everything else, but it’s been incredible.”

Burrow welcomed the prince to the venue with a message recorded on an eye gaze machine, saying: “I would like to welcome you to Headingley, the home of Leeds Rhinos, and thank you for coming today. It is an honour to meet you.”

After being described by the prince as an inspiration to the MND community, Burrow said: “I can honestly say that I never set out to be an inspiration, I just wanted to try and help other people in a similar situation to me.

“I’m just trying to live my best life with the cards that I’ve been dealt.”

He added: “I wouldn’t be here without the love and support of my wife Lindsey. She is stronger than any rugby player I ever played against.”

After being asked about their friendship, Sinfield said: “The humour’s different. It’s different in how we communicate but the humour’s still exactly the same, it’s still there. He’s still as mischievous and funny as he’s always been.”

Talking about Burrow’s reputation for “playing tricks” before big games as a player, Sinfield told William about an incident in the dressing room when Burrow rubbed a Jaffa Cake on the white underwear of another player.

The prince joked: “I’m so not telling my children Rob because that’s the sort of thing they’ll do to me.”

Burrow’s daughters Macy and Maya also presented William with three gift bags for his children.

After receiving the CBE, Burrow said: “It is an honour to accept on behalf of the whole MND community. Days like today allow us to keep the spotlight on the disease and continue to raise awareness and, hopefully, funds to fight the disease and support those who are living with MND and their families.

“It was wonderful that His Royal Highness was able to come to Headingley to see us and very much appreciated. It was lovely to talk to him and for me to meet my family.”

All In You will head to Kempton on Saturday in a bid to replicate a neat Fontainebleau success as part of a renewed team for owner-jockey David Maxwell.

Maxwell owns a string of horses and rides on an amateur licence, with his most recent successes in the saddle including Joker De Mai in a Lingfield handicap, Queensbury Boy in a Chepstow bumper and All In You’s Fontainebleau win.

The latter horse is trained by French-based Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm and will now cross the Channel to contest a juvenile hurdle at Kempton after a neat victory on home turf in mid-December was added to a prior win on the Flat.

The four-year-old was purchased by French agent Guy Petit after his racecourse debut and changed hands and stables having previously been trained by Stephanie Nigge.

“I bought him privately, I can’t even remember how much I gave for him as I tend to blank it out of my mind as a distasteful experience!” said Maxwell.

“He’d won a Flat race and Guy reckoned he looked the business. Sure enough, when he won first time he was the business.

“He jumped straightforwardly and he’s got a bit of a turn of foot, he’s really nice.”

George and Zetterholm hit a significant career milestone at Kempton when their stable flag bearer Il Est Francais won the Grade One Kauto Star Novices’ Chase on Boxing Day, giving them a natural inclination to return to the track.

“I didn’t really have a plan, I just thought he was a nice horse and he went to Noel who said ‘let’s just run him’,” Maxwell said.

“I was probably going to bring him over here but then they ran him and he won, then Noel said ‘let’s send him to Kempton’ because Noel likes coming over to Kempton now for obvious reasons!

“Nothing has come out of that race in France yet so I don’t know if it was an egg and spoon race or if it was decent, but he did it well.

“We’ll see after we run him what sort of horse we have, he’s only a baby.”

All In You is one of a number of nice prospects Maxwell has sourced from the point-to-point field and the French circuit, bringing in younger horses as the older campaigners he is associated with hit their veteran years.

He said: “I’ve restocked, Noel Fehily and David Crosse have been buying Irish pointers for me and Guy Petit has been buying horses in France.

“They’re a nice bunch of young horses, you’ve just got to be patient with them and let them grow and mature and risk the urge to play with the shiny new toys.”

Seasoned chasers such as Bob And Co, Saint Calvados, Cat Tiger and Simply The Betts have been good servants for Maxwell in recent years, but the sad fate of the latter has affirmed his approach of enjoying his horses with few fixed plans.

He said: “I’ll just be led by them, you can’t make plans with horses and I’ll give you an example.

“I laid out a plan for the last 18 months that Simply The Betts was going to win the Foxhunters this year. A Cheltenham specialist, he’s a two-and-a-half-miler but with his age he’ll get the trip, he’s eligible for hunter chasing this year.

“He was going to go to Kelso next week to open his account in a hunter chase and he died last week from colic, we did all we could for him.

“It’s a microcosm of life and sadly it happens. That’s why you can’t really plan, you’ve just got to enjoy it and keep smiling.

“We’ll hopefully stay happy, stay healthy and win some races, that’s the plan, and just keep enjoying it.”

Jonjo O’Neill has not given up hope of getting Monbeg Genius back on track in time to contest the Randox Grand National, despite being forced to miss another big-race engagement at Warwick this weekend.

Last seen finishing third in the in the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury in early December, the eight-year-old is the 14-1 co-favourite with Paddy Power for the Aintree spectacular alongside last year’s first and third, Corach Rambler and Gaillard Du Mesnil.

However, a minor setback led to him not taking up his place as ante-post favourite for the Welsh Grand National over the festive period and he will also miss Saturday’s Wigley Group Classic Handicap Chase.

“He doesn’t run on Saturday, he’s still not right, he’s not recovered,” O’Neill said at Catterick on Thursday.

“He’ll be all right, but I don’t know when he’ll be able to run. He hasn’t done any work, so he won’t be running for a little while I’d say.”

The Jackdaws Castle trainer admits he will need to get another run and potentially another win into his charge to ensure he makes the cut for what will be a 34-runner National for the first time this year.

He added: “He still could be a Grand National horse, it’s a few months away. That is still in the back of our minds obviously, but he needs to come right first. There’s no point running them if they’re not right.

“He will have to run before then (Aintree), he probably needs to win to get into the weights now the field has been cut down.

“If he can’t go there, he could go for the Scottish National or Midlands National or something like that. He has plenty of time, but he’s a horse for those races.”

Victor Wembanyama was delighted to make a "statement" with his first NBA triple-double on Wednesday, having helped the San Antonio Spurs past the Detroit Pistons with a dominant display.

Last year's number one draft pick finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists at Little Caesars Arena as the Spurs ended a five-game losing streak with a 130-108 win over their struggling opponents.

In doing so, Wembanyama – at the age of 20 years and six days – became the youngest player in NBA history to record a triple-double with no turnovers since turnovers were first tracked in 1977-78, surpassing Andre Iguodala, who did so aged 21 years and 54 days in 2005.

Wembanyama's achievement was made all the more impressive by the fact he played just 21 minutes and two seconds overall, the second-fewest minutes needed for a triple-double in the shot-clock era (since 1954-55).

The Frenchman was under a minute away from the outright record, with Russell Westbrook having recorded a triple-double in 20 minutes and 17 seconds for the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2014, against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Speaking after the win, Wembanyama said of his landmark performance: "Doing it in a win is everything, of course. I didn't know it was the second-fastest in NBA history. 

"It matters to me. I'm not the type to talk for nothing. This is the kind of statement we want to make as a team, and this is the type of statement I want to make as a player."

The Pistons were one of the teams who had hoped to recruit Wembanyama, with Detroit having failed to secure the first overall draft pick despite finishing with the league's worst record last year.

Asked about Detroit's previous interest in him, Wembanyama said: "It's weird to imagine a different future and what could have been."

Detroit also have the worst record in the NBA this season, sitting at 3-35 after losing six straight games. Their current losing run started after a win over the Toronto Raptors in late December, which itself halted a joint-record 28-game losing streak.

Pistons coach Monty Williams was unimpressed after a poor first quarter set the tone for another disappointing outing, saying: "The focus and discipline wasn't there.

"There's nobody to look at other than me, not having guys ready to play."

Whispering Royal will attempt to put himself in the Cheltenham Festival picture when he lines up in the Weatherbys Chatteris Fen Juvenile Hurdle at Huntingdon on Friday.

A useful cast of six have assembled for another competitive running of the juvenile event, with Paul Nicholls’ French import Kabral Du Mathan heading most bookmakers lists ahead of his first outing for the Ditcheat team.

Whispering Royal has already tasted defeat at the hands of the same connections’ Liari earlier in the season, but stepped up markedly on that Wincanton third when a taking winner at Doncaster last month.

Alan King’s youngster now has the chance to follow in the footsteps of recently-retired Barbury Castle stalwart Sceau Royal, who won this contest in 2016, while also going a step closer to booking his ticket to Prestbury Park in the spring.

“It looks like a hot race on paper, as it always is,” said Ella McNeill, National Hunt racing manager for owners Chelsea Thoroughbreds.

“Alan has been really pleased with him at home and he’s a horse that takes his racing really well. He’s been running since the beginning of the summer on the Flat and I hope we go there with a nice chance.

“I think he prefers the better side of soft so hopefully it keeps drying out and doesn’t get too tacky, but I think we will really know what we have got on Friday.

“He obviously won really nicely at Doncaster in the middle of December and I think this is the perfect next race to see what we have really.

“I think most of the horses in there will be looking at the Boodles (Fred Winter) at the Festival so it is nice timing in terms of it being six weeks until Cheltenham. We will see if we can go there after this.”

Gary Moore has won this with Kotmask and Perseus Way in the past two years and will be relying on wide-margin Fontwell scorer Soigneux Bell to bring up the hat-trick.

“He schooled well over hurdles, but then the first time I ran him over them he was disappointing and he was disappointing the next day at Huntingdon,” said Moore.

“When he won at Fontwell I was much happier, and I think he is just starting to come together.

“He needs to improve a lot to win this on Friday, but I did have this race earmarked out for him.

“He seemed much happier on the softer ground the other day as it was his first time on it over here since coming over from France. Hopefully he will continue improving.”

Although that was Soigneux Bell’s first victory in the three starts over obstacles at Fontwell, Moore is yet to totally give up on the four-year-old taking his place at the Festival in March.

He added: “I hoped this lad was going to be a Triumph Hurdle horse, but I don’t think he is that at the moment. He would have to win well on Friday and prove me wrong.

“There are some nice handicaps at the end of the season for juveniles and that is the route he is likely to go down.

“If the owners want to go to the Cheltenham Festival then he would run in the Fred Winter (Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle), but he would need to go up in the handicap to get in that.”

Stephen Curry acknowledged something needs to change for the Golden State Warriors after they suffered their second blowout loss in the space of three days, saying: "It all sucks."

The Warriors were booed off at Chase Center following Sunday's 133-118 defeat to the Toronto Raptors, and a similar reception awaited them on Wednesday as the New Orleans Pelicans ran out 141-105 victors. 

Steve Kerr's team did not lead at any point in those back-to-back defeats and are now 17-20 for the season, having gone 2-5 throughout a vital seven-game home stretch since Christmas.

Curry was limited to 15 points by the Pelicans after only managing a paltry nine against Toronto, both well below his season average of 26.7.

The two-time NBA MVP was at a loss to explain the Warriors' struggles after their latest home defeat, saying: "It's pretty evident that if things stay the same, that's the definition of insanity, right? Keep doing the same thing but expecting different results.

"You get to a point where you're trying to explain it, trying to figure out what can change specifically that can help us.

"Those conversations are happening between games, in film sessions, in the locker room. But it's headed in the opposite direction. 

"I don't know what to say about it. We're not used to this vibe around our team. It all sucks."

While the Warriors have suffered several gut-wrenching reverses this season, blowing big leads to lose to the Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Clippers and Denver Nuggets, head coach Kerr says their back-to-back blowout defeats exposed a lack of belief.

"We are lacking confidence," Kerr said. "You get to a stage where you lose your belief.

"One of the coaches said we are the quietest team ever. We need guys who can rally the troops right. 

"When you're going through it like this, there is only one way out. That's to fight together, to compete together."

Bill Belichick is expected to announce the end of his historic reign as New England Patriots coach at a press conference on Thursday afternoon.

Belichick is due to speak alongside Patriots owner Robert Kraft following reports the record-breaking head coach is to leave the franchise after 24 years and six Super Bowl titles.

The Patriots ended the 2023 season with a 4-13 record, the worst of Belichick’s coaching career, and there had been widespread speculation over his future.

Belichick has one year remaining on his contract, but the 71-year-old has been in talks with Kraft since the end of the season and, according to reports, the pair have reached a mutual decision to move on after the most decorated partnership in NFL history.

Belichick was named as Patriots coach in 2000 and oversaw an unprecedented run of success, including three Super Bowl titles in the space of four seasons, as well as 17 AFC East division titles and 18 play-off appearances.

With Tom Brady leading the offence from quarterback, defensive specialist Belichick built a dynasty in New England, but their fortunes have declined since Brady left for Tampa Bay before the 2020 season and they have posted losing records in three of the four seasons since.

Belichick has 333 career wins across the regular season and the play-offs, putting him 14 behind the record held by Hall of Famer Don Shula. Belichick, George Halas and Curly Lambeau are the only NFL coaches with six championships since 1933 and the introduction of post-season play.

His 17 division titles, nine conference championships and 12 Super Bowl appearances (including three as an assistant coach) all stand as records.

Ile Atlantique faces the acid test of his Cheltenham Festival credentials as he leads the four-strong Willie Mullins-trained team into battle in the rearranged Lawlor’s Of Naas Novice Hurdle.

The race fell victim to the fog that descended on the Kildare track on Sunday, but thankfully the ultra-competitive Grade One event has been saved and Mullins will be bidding for a record-extending ninth win in the contest, 19 years after first striking with Homer Wells.

Closutton stable jockey Paul Townend has elected to link up with Ile Atlantique after the duo sauntered to a 19-length success on hurdles debut at Gowran.

The six-year-old brings smart bumper form to the table – including a narrow defeat by chief market rival Firefox – but connections appreciate this is a huge leap up in class on just his second start over obstacles.

“He’s going from winning a maiden hurdle to a Grade One and it’s a big ask, but Firefox is doing the same and so are a few other horses in the race,” said Sean Graham, racing manager to Ile Atlantique’s owner Tony Bloom.

“You don’t know how much improvement a horse can find after winning a maiden hurdle, but then are they good enough to win a Grade One?

“The bumper form has held up well and we’re hoping he’s as good as everyone thinks he is, but it’s only his second run over hurdles and its a big ask going straight in there at Grade One level. I asked Willie if there was any chance of giving him another run before going into Grade One company and Willie said those races don’t exist anymore.

“He’s a classy horse and he works with all the best horses Willie has, but until he goes and does it, you are not quite sure. If we run on Friday and finish fifth or sixth, then you’ve got to think maybe Cheltenham isn’t on the cards then, so it will be a learning curve for us as well as the horse. We’re just hopeful he will run his race.”

Not only does Friday’s contest represent a step up in grade for Ile Atlantique, it is also the first time he will race beyond two miles in Ireland.

Despite that, he is already single-figure odds with the majority of bookmakers for the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival and connections feel that is currently his most likely Prestbury Park target if all goes according to script.

“We always felt on his bumper form he would need further, but when Paul rode him at Gowran Park, he more or less said he wasn’t a slow horse,” continued Graham.

“We didn’t think three miles would be his trip this year and the Albert Bartlett would be too far for him, but the Ballymore is in his stretch. That is not to say next year he won’t get three miles, or further over fences in the future.

“We’re hoping he will run well and the Ballymore is his most likely target, but Friday will tell us a lot more.”

Joining Ile Atlantique from Closutton is easy Clonmel scorer Chapeau De Soleil, who will be the mount of Patrick Mullins, Navan runner-up Lecky Watson (Danny Mullins) and the four-timer-seeking Readin Tommy Wrong (Daryl Jacob).

If Mullins is the race’s most successful trainer, then it is Gordon Elliott who has dominated the recent history winning four of the last seven runnings.

Death Duty (2017), Battleoverdoyen (2019), Envoi Allen (2020) and Ginto (2022) have all struck for Elliott in the past and it is Firefox who carries the Cullentra House handler’s main hopes this time around.

Following his documented exploits in bumpers, which includes the defeat of Ile Atlantique, he has claimed the scalp of the highly-regarded Ballyburn since turning his attentions to hurdling – form that was given a timely boost over the Christmas period.

Elliott has a second string to his bow in the form of Croke Park, who arguably sets the standard on hurdling form, having landed the Grade Three Monksfield at Navan last time out.

“We’re looking forward to both of our horses and we hope they’ll run well,” said Elliott.

“Firefox was good the last day and I don’t think stepping up in trip will be a problem to him.

“Croke Park is a good horse as well and hasn’t done much wrong.”

The only runner not trained by Mullins or Elliott is Henry de Bromhead’s An Tobar, who steps up in trip after finishing third in the Grade One Royal Bond at Fairyhouse.

De Bromhead’s race planner Robbie Power said: “He ran very well in the Royal Bond on what was only his second ever start over hurdles. With that experience and the step up to two and a half miles, this looked a good race to go for.

“The Fairyhouse race looked a strong Grade One, as the winner, Farren Glory, looked like he was going to win another Grade One at Aintree over Christmas (before falling) and the runner-up, King Of Kingsfield, was very impressive winning at Leopardstown over Christmas, so it is strong form.”

Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings are joining the Jacksonville Jaguars in playing NFL games in London next season.

The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will host the Bears and Vikings against as yet unnamed opposition in the autumn as part of the 2024 International Games series.

The Jags will also be returning to Wembley, their home away from home, as part of their multi-year commitment to the UK, with this set to be their 12th game in the capital.

Carolina Panthers are heading to Munich, Germany while Brazil is set to host its first game in Sao Paulo as the NFL continues to grow across the globe – no teams have yet been announced for that fixture.

Peter O’Reilly, executive vice president of club business, league events and international at the NFL, said: “Taking our game to more fans around the world is a major priority for the league and its 32 teams, and we are delighted to be returning to London and Munich in 2024.

“Whether tackle or flag football, international passion for the game and the NFL continues to grow, and having our teams and their world-class athletes play games and engage with fans around the world is an important part of becoming a truly global sport.”

A recent vote by teams means the NFL will have the ability to schedule up to eight international games per season from 2025.

Rory McIlroy exceeded his expectations as he started his 2024 season with a flawless opening 62 in the inaugural Dubai Invitational.

Competing for the first time since finishing a distant 22nd in the DP World Tour Championship, McIlroy looked anything but rusty as he recorded nine birdies at Dubai Creek Resort to open up a two-shot lead over Germany’s Yannik Paul.

Paul carded eight birdies and a solitary bogey in his 64, with South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence on six under and Tommy Fleetwood and Thorbjorn Olesen another stroke back.

McIlroy, who will defend his Dubai Desert Classic title next week, told Sky Sports: “I didn’t expect that.

“It didn’t feel quite as good as that the first couple of days when I was here hitting balls and playing the course but it was nice to get a card in the hand again and feel the competitive juices flowing.

“I surprised myself a little bit but hopefully more of the same over the next few days.

“When the wind gets up it can get a little bit tricky. We played the first 12 or 13 holes basically without any wind and then there was a little coming in.

“I think you just have to miss it in the right spots, there’s some water here and there and I think I did a good job today of managing my misses on the right side and when I did hit good shots I was available to take advantage of them.”

The tournament features a 72-hole strokeplay tournament played alongside a three-day pro-am team event, with Sunday featuring professionals only.

“These pro-ams I either play with my dad or this week I’m playing with the tournament host so there’s maybe added pressure there as well to go out and perform, but it’s a very easy way to get back into things,” McIlroy added.

“This is a nice week to do some extra practice and put some work in so that I feel a bit more ready, not just for next week which is obviously a bigger event, but also going into the bulk of the season.”

Jeremy Scott’s Dashel Drasher could briefly resume his chasing career after his placed run in the Howden Long Walk Hurdle.

The fan favourite, now 11 years old, had a lucrative spell in staying hurdles last season but is also a well-regarded chaser with four successes over fences on his CV – including the Grade One Ascot Chase.

Second in the Relkeel Hurdle, the Cleeve Hurdle and the Stayers’ Hurdle last season, the latter a placing gained upon appeal, the gelding returned to action this term to finish third in the bet365 Hurdle at Wetherby in November.

He then headed to Newbury for the Long Distance Hurdle, a Grade Two event he won by a head from fellow veteran Paisley Park – another stalwart of the division.

Both horses lined up for the Long Walk to give Fergal O’Brien’s Crambo a run for his money, with the young horse coming out on top as Paisley Park was second behind him and Dashel Drasher in third place.

Scott could now call on his stable star’s versatility as the horse’s next outing could either be a hurdle start or a brief return to chasing, though both paths will likely lead to the Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

“He’s doing really well. He did pull a muscle, I think over the last hurdle because he went quite long there, so we’ve had a little hold-up there,” said Scott.

“That’s probably neither here nor there and we’ve sorted that out, so he’s fighting fit for the end of the month or the beginning of next month.

“He could either go back to the Cleeve (Hurdle, at Cheltenham) or go for the Denman (Chase, at Newbury), I’ve a notion to do that.”

Should Dashel Drasher head for the Denman he may meet Nicky Henderson’s Shishkin and Paul Nicholls’ Bravemansgame, with the going pivotal to the decision made.

“It’s just a matter of the timing and the ground as to which direction we go in, but he’s very well at the moment and one of those is the plan,” Scott said.

“I’d imagine he’d go for the Stayer’s Hurdle either way, there’s nothing for him over fences really at Cheltenham, only the Gold Cup and I wouldn’t quite think he was up to that.”

Andy Farrell’s elevation to head coach of the British and Irish Lions is anything but a surprise.

The recently-crowned World Rugby coach of the year was odds-on favourite to land one of the sport’s most prestigious posts after establishing Ireland as global heavyweights.

His impressive impact in Dublin has attracted admirers far and wide and he will spearhead the 2025 tour of Australia with the full support of his predecessor.

“It is the opportunity now for someone else to be head coach and Andy Farrell would have my backing for the job,” Warren Gatland, who selected Farrell as one of his assistants for the Lions tours in 2013 and 2017, said in October.

“You cannot deny what Ireland have achieved as a nation over the last few years. There is no doubt that Andy has done a fantastic job.”

Farrell’s true emergence as the outstanding candidate to succeed Gatland came in 2022 when he masterminded Ireland’s stunning series success in New Zealand.

The historic achievement launched a 17-match winning streak which brought Guinness Six Nations Grand Slam glory, victory over each of rugby’s leading nations and a prolonged spell at the top of the world rankings.

Defeat to the All Blacks in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals in October 2023 finally halted the record-breaking run of victories.

Yet that disappointment did little to damage the rising stock of a born leader renowned for emotional intelligence, superb man-management skills, a shrewd rugby brain and an unflappable mentality.

“Everyone runs into camp and never wants to leave – it’s an incredible place to be,” recently-retired Ireland captain Johnny Sexton said of the environment fostered by Farrell.

“I’ve not really seen a manager tick all the boxes like he does.”

Born in Wigan in May 1975, Farrell represented his hometown club in rugby league with distinction.

He made his first-team debut in November 1991 at the age of 16 – two months after the birth of son Owen, the current England captain – and regularly lifted silverware, in addition to twice being named Man of Steel.

Farrell switched codes to play for Saracens in 2005 but the transition was severely hampered by foot surgery and back problems, including a prolapsed disc after a car crash.

Injuries limited him to just eight Test caps in rugby union and kept him sidelined for the latter stages of England’s run to the 2007 World Cup final, where they finished as runners-up to South Africa.

Farrell was later joined at Saracens by a teenage Owen and then remained with the Premiership club following retirement in 2009 to begin his coaching career before joining the England set-up under Stuart Lancaster ahead of the 2012 Six Nations.

Four years later, the 48-year-old headed across the Irish Sea seeking to rebuild his reputation after being dismissed by newly-appointed England coach Eddie Jones in the aftermath of a dismal home World Cup.

Farrell, who initially served as Ireland’s defence coach under Joe Schmidt before stepping into the leading role following the 2019 World Cup, has since given the RFU cause for regret.

Following a rocky transitional period amid the coronavirus pandemic, his vision of a slick system of short, swift interplay clicked into gear in devastating fashion and to widespread acclaim.

His well-earned reward has been two contract extensions from the IRFU – initially until 2025 and then 2027 – and now an opportunity to lead the Lions.

The Englishman is tasked with returning the multi-nation team to winning ways following a 2-1 defeat to the Springboks in 2021.

“He loves everything about the Lions and he epitomises what’s great about it,” said two-time tourist Tommy Bowe, who was coached by Farrell on the victorious trip to Australia in 2013.

“He’s very much about working extremely hard on the pitch but also being able to have a laugh off the pitch and I think that’s what the Lions is.”

Andy Farrell has been confirmed as the British and Irish Lions head coach for their 2025 tour to Australia.

Farrell will lead the Lions for the first time after serving as an assistant under Warren Gatland for the 2013 and 2017 visits to Australia and New Zealand respectively.

“It is a tremendous honour and a privilege to be named head coach of the British and Irish Lions,” the 48-year-old Englishman said.

“There is a wealth of talent across Britain and Ireland, and I am looking forward to building a team that can deliver the ultimate goal of success in Australia.”