Gatland wants players protected
Warren Gatland will talk to the match officials before Saturday’s second test about the apparent actions of several All Blacks in targeting halfback Conor Murray’s legs after he cleared the ball at Eden Park.
Lions coach Gatland said on arrival in Wellington that what he saw during the 30-15 defeat in the first test concerned him, suggesting some of Steve Hansen’s players weren’t trying to charge down the ball and that they appeared to have other motives.
“The one concern for me . . . there was a charge down when someone dived at his legs, which I thought was a little bit dangerous,” Gatland said.
“After he’s kicked, he’s been pushed a few times and pushed to the ground. They’re not massive issues for us, it’s just making sure he’s protected and not harassed after he’s box kicked.
“It’s a little bit tough. When you see someone dive at someone’s leg, you feel for the player. It’s a little bit concerning that they’re not actually trying to charge the kick down, they’re nowhere near it.
“They’re diving blindly and hitting someone’s leg. For me, it’s about protecting the players and making sure they’re safe. We’ll ask politely that the officials look at that and protect him.”
It’s the second time on tour that Gatland has talked about the actions of opponents in a bid to put it into the minds of the officials. Last week, he spoke about the blocking off the ball of some New Zealand teams.
Hansen responded by saying such talk was tantamount to bullying the officials but Gatland is clearly undeterred. He said he would also seek “clarity” over the All Blacks’ sacking of the Lions lineout.
“[But] there are lots of things we need to concentrate on ourselves and fix,” he said.
Gatland, happy to give his squad a relatively clean bill of health despite the torrid nature of the first test, also had a swipe at the All Blacks game plan at Eden Park, saying his side would probably have been criticised had they won with such a direct, physical mindset.
“They didn’t really play Champagne rugby, did they? So if we had played that way and won the game it would have been interesting to see the reaction. Look, you have to take your hat off to them.
“I said to the players, don’t expect them to be expansive because as a Kiwi, I understand what the mindset is, and sometimes that’s to stop the strength of the opposition; to stop our line speed, our driven lineout, and to be prepared at some stage to have a crack at our scrum, and they did all those things and were very physical at the breakdown.
“There were lots of things we did really well. The disappointing thing is that we were probably dominated in the collisions in terms of attack and defence, it was simple as that, and we need to improve that this week.”
Gatland admitted this week was huge in the context of the tour. Tomorrow they play defending Super Rugby champions the Hurricanes before attempting to overturn the first test result and keep the series alive.
“There’s no hiding away from the fact that this week is very important for us. The need to get a good performance, a good result, on Tuesday and then to build in to Saturday is going to be pretty crucial for us.”