Gatland: Skipper to thank
Warren Gatland has revealed Lions captain Sam Warburton played a major role in convincing French referee Romain Poite to change his mind about the controversial offside ruling that robbed the All Blacks of a chance to win the series.
In stark contrast to the All Blacks who treated the drawn series like defeat, Gatland beamed with pride after the 15-15 draw at Eden Park saw his men emerge with respect following a torrid six-week, 10-match tour of the world’s leading rugby nation.
Gatland was so chuffed, he even turned up to the post-match press conference wearing a red nose — a crack back after being depicted as a clown.
“It was my idea,” Gatland said. “I had it last week but I didn’t think it was the right time to wear it. Everyone was talking about this being a 3-0 whitewash. This group of players has shown unbelievable character.”
Ultimately, they were unable to match the feats of Gareth Edwards, Barry John, Willie John McBride, JPR Williams and the rest of the 1971 team who remain the only Lions to win a series in attempts.
But, given the All Blacks’ only defeat at home in their last 49 tests came last week in Wellington, Gatland was satisfied.
“If you’d said six weeks ago that we’d come to New Zealand and draw a test series, we’d probably take that.”
On Poite’s decision, Gatland initially attempted to point the finger of fault at All Blacks captain Kieran Read, who attempted to contest the kickoff after Owen Farrell banged over the penalty which tied the test.
“I thought it was a penalty to us. Kieran Read ran through . . . I don’t think he’s got any chance of getting his hand on that. He’s hit the player in the air,” Gatland claimed.
“The ball has come from that and landed in Ken Owens’ arms and in fairness to the man next to me [Warburton], he’s been quite smart and astute and been able to talk the referee from a penalty into an accidental offside. We would have been devastated as a group if we had lost the game from that.
“It swings and roundabouts. You sometimes get calls that go for you and calls that go against you. I thought New Zealand after 11 the result was probably a fair reflection of where the tour was.”
Warburton was thankful his pleading with Poite saw the referee reverse his decision, despite it being correct in the rule book.
“It’s a shot to nothing at that point,” Warburton said. “I just asked him to check for the accidental offside. They order a penalty and it’s worth asking the question. The whole game, he was pretty receptive at having a look at things which he might not have caught at first sight. A lot of referees in the past, they make a call and they stick to it. This series, they’ve been really good at having a look.
“If you question something 10-15 times a game, they won’t acknowledge what you’re saying but I think less is more in those situations. Luckily he listened to the question and had a check again.
“When you think back to the World Cup when that happened with Scotland and Australia, and they kicked the penalty.
“The Scots were angry with that and I remember thinking there’s got to be an alternative because it’s not a penalty offence in my opinion. I’m glad it was a scrum instead.”