Leave Murray alone
Lions coach Warren Gatland has taken aim at certain All Blacks for ‘‘diving blindly’’ at his halfback Conor Murray’s legs and putting him at risk of injury.
At a jam-packed first press conference on arrival in Wellington for tomorrow’s match against the Hurricanes and the second test four days later, Gatland said he would meet French referee Jerome Garces to discuss it this week.
Gatland didn’t name names but he felt Murray, whose box kicking was one effective weapon for the Lions, was being put at risk by All Blacks looking to charge down his punts and rough him up.
‘‘The one concern for me was, a couple of times from Conor Murray. There was a charge-down where someone dived at his legs which was a little bit dangerous,’’ Gatland said.
‘‘After he’s kicked he’s been pushed a few times, pushed to the ground. They’re not massive issues for us, but we’re just making sure that he’s being looked after and protected and not harassed after he’s box kicked.’’
Asked how Murray was handling being targeted by the All Blacks, Gatland said: ‘‘It’s a little bit tough when you see someone dive at someone’s leg, you feel for the player and it’s concerning that they’re not trying to charge the kick down because 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. That’s my biggest concern. I’ll be asking politely the officials, to look at that and make sure they protect them.’’
Gatland said there was no escaping the fact this was the most important week of their tour, after the All Blacks stamped an indelible mark on the series in Auckland.
After an extensive review of the tape, Gatland felt his side did plenty of things well at Eden Park but the glaring issue was getting beaten in the contact area.
He chuckled at a question about the All Blacks’ direct rather than expansive style. ‘‘They didn’t really play champagne rugby, did they? If we had played that way and won the game it would have been interesting to see the reaction.
‘‘I said to the team: don’t expect them to be expansive. As a Kiwi I understand what the mindset is; to stop the strength of the opposition, to stop our line speed, to stop our driven lineout and to have a crack at our scrum. And they did all those things and were very physical at the breakdown.’’
Gatland named a virtually unchanged midweek team to face a powerful looking Hurricanes side.
Hooker Rory Best will captain the same pack which monstered the Chiefs in a 34-6 win last Tuesday.
‘‘They’re not massive issues for us, but we’re just making sure that he’s being looked after and protected.’’ Warren Gatland on Conor Murray