About Andy Farrell
Andrew David Farrell (born 30 May 1975) is an English professional rugby union coach and former rugby league and rugby union footballer. Farrell has been head coach of the Ireland national rugby union team since 2019. Farrell earned 34 caps for Great Britain and 11 for England in rugby league, including the 1995 and 2000 World Cups, and 8 for England in rugby union, including the 2007 World Cup. He was a goal-kicking loose forward in rugby league, who played for Wigan between 1991 and 2004, winning six Championships and four Challenge Cups, as well as the Man of Steel award twice. He frequently captained Wigan, England and Great Britain. In rugby union, he played for Saracens from 2005 to 2009, mostly as a centre. After retiring as a player, Farrell continued in rugby union as a coach, working as an assistant coach with Saracens, Munster, England, Ireland and the British and Irish Lions. He became head coach of Ireland in 2019. He coached them to a 2–1 series victory in New Zealand in 2022 and two consecutive Six Nations Championships wins in 2023 and 2024, including a Grand Slam in 2023. In January 2024, Farrell was appointed coach of the British & Irish Lions for their tour of Australia in 2025. The Lions won the test series 2–1. Farrell first played rugby league at age 10 at a summer camp run by Graeme West, who was Wigan captain at the time. Farrell became the youngest player to win a Challenge Cup final in 1993 when at 17 years and 11 months he came on as a substitute against Widnes.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.