Lions captaincy is becoming Gatland’s biggest problem
There is no single outstanding candidate to lead the tourists.
OPINION: The Lions need a big man if they are to survive in New Zealand.
They need a man who can hold his feet when the All Blacks assassins want to drive his neck through the ground. They need a man who can smile as the partisans of the local press fire bullets from the safety of the hills. They need a man who can talk to referees and his own team with equal ease.
And if anyone has seen that captain playing in the Six Nations, could they please call Warren Gatland on the Lions freephone helpline.
A lack of leadership is the thing that could tear the Lions apart this winter. There are good captains out there in the Six Nations, but none can be sure of their place in the side.
Dylan Hartley stands head and shoulders above them all, and as a Kiwi he knows the lie of the land. But Hartley’s grisly disciplinary record will be meat for the scavengers and he is not even a certain starting pick for England right now.
There was also the fiasco against Italy. Hartley said, ‘‘Hindsight is a bitch but if I could go back I would have seen what was happening earlier and dealt with it earlier. It took too long in the half and that’s my fault. But it’s a learning curve isn’t it? It won’t happen again, I was trying to figure out what was happening but I was confused.’’
Hartley is harsh on himself, because England went to the pick and drive long before the half was over. But time and time again it is hard to get away from the fact that Jamie George is currently the best hooker in Britain and Ireland. And so how can Hartley or Rory Best be captain of the Lions?
Hartley will be 31 this month and Best is 34. New Zealand is no country for old men, at least not on a Lions tour.
There is also an extremely ugly precedent. The last hooker to captain a Lions tour was Ciaran Fitzgerald in 1983. Fitzgerald was not worth his place in the side. One Irish paper actually said he would be better off in London zoo. The abuse became so vile that TP McLean started supporting the poor man.
Paul O’Connell, who was on the 2005 tour, said, ‘‘It doesn’t get any harder than a trip to New Zealand.’’ The big lock began smoking in his room. Then he brushed his gums with fury to wipe out the guilty smell of smoke and nicotine.
Now O’Connell’s gums are in ruins. And he was a future Lions captain.
The Lions have a hell of a side coming together, but who the hell is going to lead them through the badlands? At the moment Alun Wyn Jones is the bookmaker’s favourite, but he is more covered in ordure than glory right now.
So far Wales have eked out a solitary unimpressive win against Italy in the Six Nations. It is unreported, but Wyn Jones briefly faked an injury against England, hoping to get a player yellow carded. Then the move went on through several more phases and suddenly Wyn Jones was again a spritely participant in the drive for the line. It was not a good look.
He also called out Alex Cuthbert in an interview at the end of the game, saying that wide defence was a basic after a poor kick.
Now Wyn jones is suffering fallout about wanting to kick for goal against Scotland and then backing down because Leigh Halfpenny didn’t fancy it.
Oh, and he too is not sure of his place in the team. Maro Itoje will surely be one lock, but the Gray brothers, Devin Toner, Courtney Lawes, Joe Launchbury and George Kruis are all contenders for the other spot.
Gatland says of the captaincy, ‘‘There are no guarantees at the moment. It could be someone from left field.’’
Like Owen Farrell or Conor Murray? Will Greenwood says, ‘‘When you looked at Martin Johnson you saw a winner. Whatever you think about Owen Farrell as a rugby player, when you look in his eye, there’s only one thing looking back at you: a winner.’’
I talked to Fran Cotton, the manager of the ‘97 tour to South Africa, before they appointed Martin Johnson out of left field. Johnson was not a captain then. But Cotton liked the hardness of the man and the fact that he would not be intimidated by anything. He liked the fact that he could look the tallest, ugliest South African opponent in the eye.
Farrell has some of the same stubbornness of personality, but he does not stand so tall either as a player or a man. And that is becoming Gatland’s apparently insuperable problem. Whoever he selects will be a less than perfect solution.
Each week the case is becoming stronger for Sam Warburton.
He has captained Wales through a World Cup in New Zealand. He has rediscovered his form. And he has captained a Lions tour before. And there will be no familiarisation period with the coach.
And everyone will call it jobs for the boys. The Lions haven’t even arrived and already the captaincy will be met with a verbal spear tackle. It’s almost a no-win situation, which funnily enough was what exactly happened in 1983.
This Lions team is shaping up to be way better than that, but they may need to think outside the box.
The Chiefs have prospered with co-captains, why not the Lions. Strength in numbers.
If New Zealand have to look two ways, they may find it much harder to go for the head of the beast.
Appoint Hartley and Warburton as co-captains, or even Farrell and Wyn Jones, and Gatland could have the best of two worlds. Two nearly big men add up to a giant.