'Wouldn't be a bother to him' - Andrew Porter backs Andy Farrell for Lions head coach role

Andrew Porter has spent all of his international career in the company of Andy Farrell and the Leinster prop has no doubt the current Ireland coach would be perfectly suited to leading the Lions.

The 48-year-old Farrell has twice toured as an assistant coach with the Lions, to New Zealand for the drawn series in 2017 and to Australia four years previous for a 2-1 series win.

Warren Gatland, the head coach for the last three tours, didn't take Farrell to South Africa for the last series but the Englishman is set to take charge when the announcement is made tomorrow.

Handed a four-year extension to his Ireland contract last month, the IRFU has given its blessing for the former rugby league Man of Steel to take leave from his day job to lead the Lions in Australia in 2025.

"He’s been in that set-up before and he knows exactly the demands of a Lions tour," Porter, who made his Ireland debut in 2017 when Farrell was Joe Schmidt’s defence coach, told RTÉ Sport.

"He’d be an incredible coach for something like that.

"He’s definitely shown the Irish people, and the world, what calibre of coach he is and the type of person he is as well.

"It wouldn’t be a bother to him."

Porter, who missed out on the last Lions tour with injury, has been one of Leinster’s standout players of the campaign so far and admitted that the hurt of losing out in the World Cup quarter-final to New Zealand has been a motivating factor.

"It's pretty tough for me to forget what happened," said 27-year-old, who is expected to be named in Ireland’s Six Nations squad next Wednesday.

"It’s still quite fresh. It was tough in the aftermath. I suppose you can’t let it affect you too much. You can use it as motivation, but it only goes so far.

"It’s a different group, different