British and Irish Lions coach Andy Farrell says it will be a “bit different” watching the Six Nations unfold this year instead of leading the Ireland team.

The 49-year-old Englishman has guided Ireland to back-to-back Six Nations titles but is taking a sabbatical from the role to coach the Lions in this summer’s tour to Australia.

“I’ll be intrigued to watch from the sidelines – it will be a bit different for me, watching the Six Nations from the sidelines,” Farrell told RTE.

“Not just that, [there’s] the big games in Europe, the URC and Premiership etc. Good luck to everyone”

Simon Easterby has taken over from Farrell as interim head coach as Ireland bid for third straight Six Nations triumph.

Farrell succeeds Warren Gatland as Lions head coach after serving as his assistant for the 2013 and 2017 series.

He will prepare the Lions for 10 games, including an opening Test against Argentina in Dublin and ending with a three-Test series against Australia in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.

Farrell added that he is solely focused on selecting the right team for the Lions.

“It’s always the job of a head coach – everyone always asks about the difficult decisions to be made, but it’s my job to do the right thing by the team.

“And the team I’m going to be coaching in the summer is the British and Irish Lions.”