Lions coach Andy Farrell opens up on 'shock' of finding out he was going to be a father at 16 - and lays bare the vile abuse son Owen received as a young player

Andy Farrell has opened up on the shock of finding out that he was going to be a father at the age of 16 in his new memoir. 

The Ireland head coach had been in the process of studying for his GCSEs when he and his girlfriend Colleen - who is the daughter of rugby league star Keiron O’Loughlin - learned she was pregnant with their eldest son Owen. 

Farrell was also on the cusp of breaking into the Wigan Warriors set-up, where his future father-in-law had played, as an aspiring professional. 

The prospect of new responsibilities threatened to derail those plans, with both Farrell and O'Loughlin at a crossroads over the decision to keep the pregnancy in its early stages. 

But one of the biggest early changes came amid O'Loughlin's hesitancy to tell her parents what had happened. 

In the end, Farrell recounted, the news was broken through an unusual source - the stationary used by the local maternity ward. 

After being summoned home by O'Loughlin's father, her mother had brandished a letter bearing 'a stamp with a stork and the words “Billinge Maternity Unit”' written on the envelope. 

O'Loughlin at first blamed a friend using her name and address and denied that she was pregnant, but eventually 'burst into tears', unable to keep up the ruse. 

'Keiron boomed at me, “Andrew, get inside now.” I was not going to argue,' Farrell recollected in his book The Only Way I Know, via the Times.  

'It was an awful day but it was remarkable how quickly her parents’ reaction turned from shock and anger to support. I look back now, as a parent, and understand what they must have been feeling. 

'Their disappointment and worry must have been terrible. Keiron had been brilliant at helping me with my rugby development. Now his daughter was pregnant. We had been so naive.' 

The young family would go on to support Farrell throughout his glittering career at Wigan, which saw the future British and Irish Lions coach win six consecutive First Division titles between 1991 and 1996. 

But as Owen began to display the promising talent that would later see him captain England's rugby union team, Farrell found that being his father's son would lead to nasty reprisals from the touchlines. 

During Owen's junior spell at Wigan St Partrick's O'Loughlin had called her husband after being distressed by 'some fella absolutely abusing' their son. 

'I remember screeching out of the car park to drive over to Wigan St Judes, where the game was being played,' Farrell continued. 'Even as I got out of the car I could hear this guy screaming at Owen. 

'“He’s rubbish,” he shouted. It was disgusting. You would get arrested nowadays. That was the world that was rugby league at the time.'

But, Farrell noted, Owen's ability to withstand the noise was an impressive sign of his commitment to rugby - while also offering a hint the experiences that made him the player he is today. 

'Some kids might have thought to themselves, "This is not worth it",' Farrell added. 'But it obviously was worth it to him. 

'It is right that people now have a sense of how it was for Owen, because it was brutal and it would have shaped him to a degree.'

Farrell Junior has seen abuse from the stands mar his senior career, with Owen announcing that he planned to take a step back from international duty in the wake of the 2023 Rugby World Cup. 

Throughout England's journey to the final the captain was targeted with abuse, with Owen later sharing that he was taking a step back from Test matches to prioritise his own and his family's mental health. 

Owen returned to international fixtures this year when he received a late call-up to join his father's Lions touring side, following an injury to Elliot Daly.