Gatland rueing mistakes as losses mount
FRUSTRATED British and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland says his players must stop caving under pressure at key moments af t er “shooting themselves in the foot” in their latest defeat.
The tourists threw away a nine-point lead to lose 23-22 to the Otago Highlanders on Tuesday, stalling momentum gained from a gutsy win over the Canterbury Crusaders.
Gatland admitted that the performance was “a step backwards”, blaming poor discipline that cost 12 penalties and a lack of composure in the dying minutes.
“To be 22-13 up and feeling reasonably comfortable means it is disappointing to give it away,” he said.
“We didn’t nail a few big moments that were important. We shot ourselves in the foot with some turnovers and penalties in the last 10 minutes.
“The big lea r ni ng i s t hat New Zealand sides play for 80 minutes. The penalties rea lly hurt t us. us.”
Missedsed chances
It was the Lions’ second loss on tour our and their next fixture is the e Maori All Blacks on Saturday, ay, with the first Test against nst New Zealand looming ming a week on Saturday. rday.
Gaa t l a n d i s expected ected to n a m e a n e a r - Te s t s t r e n g t h t e a m as he seeks ks a morale- ale- boosting win in what is sure to be a physically challenging Maori match. While the Lions’ attack finally fired against the Highlanders – with tries to Jonathan Joseph, Tommyommy Seymour and captain Sam Warburton – they panicked in the face of a late comeback. T h e i r defence disintegrated to give Liam Coltman a push-over try then a needless scrum infringement gifted Marty Banks a penalty to put the H i g h l a n d e r s ahead. Owen Fa r re l l and Elliot Daly also missed crucial kicks as the Lions fell short.
“We needed some strong game management to close the game down,” Gatland said.
On his second appearance on tour, WarburtonWarbur scored a t r y a nd looked i n decent shape. But after he and impressive scr um-ha lf Rhys Webb left the field, the Lions were a different side.
In the two gamesgam in which they have been refereed by Australian official Angus Gardner – against th the Provincial Barbarians and i in Dunedin – the Lions have c conceded 25 penalties.
Gatland also pr provided more details about th the injury that forced Scottish fu fullback Stuart Hogg out of the t tour.
The Six Nations player of the tournament in eachea of the last two seasons suffered a fractured eye socket against the Crusaders after colliding with teammate Conor Murray.
Gatland said Hogg was warned he could lose his sight if he played on with the injury.
“It was a freak accident. Stua r t is absolutely g utted a nd we are rea lly feeling for him,” he said.
“He saw four specialists and one of them said he could be right in seven to 10 days, but the others said it was a reasonably serious injury with the possibility that he could lose his sight. We said it’s only a game of rugby and he had to get his health right. He understood that.”
Hogg’s departure means Leigh Halfpenny is now almost certain to start the Test series wearing the No15 jersey.