Johnny Sexton says Owen Farrell is '10 days ahead' and justifying Lions selection

The Saracens-bound back, who can play both fly-half and inside centre, was called in last week as an injury replacement for Elliot Daly, with head coach Andy Farrell citing his versatility in midfield as a key reason behind his selection.

Farrell's selection is certainly warranted given his experience at Test level, and importantly with the Lions as well. The former England skipper has 112 caps to his name at the time of writing, and has also made six Test appearances for the Lions across his three previous tours.

However, after making a move across the channel to Racing 92, this has arguably been one of the toughest years of his career to date. Farrell struggled to find his feet with the Parisians and also suffered a serious hip injury as well as sustaining a nasty concussion towards the end of the season.

But, that seemingly has had no effect on his training within the Lions squad, with assistant Sexton lauding his impact in his short time with the squad.

"As you'd expect with someone with that experience, he's fitted straight in," said the former Ireland fly-half. "He's hit the ground running, so it's great to see.

"He must have had the playbook on the plane on the way over because he came in and he's not missed a beat.

While Farrell might be impressing in training, he will have to bide his time to make his first appearance on tour after missing out on the 23-man squad to face the Brumbies tomorrow (Wednesday, 9th July), but could debut when the Lions take on the AUNZ Invitational XV on Saturday in an effort to make the squad for the first Wallabies Test.

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