Lions refuse to take Hansen’s bait
All Blacks coach may be proved right with several replacement players not far away from NZ shores
If Steve Hansen’s barbed comment about the British and Irish Lions calling in reinforcements to separate their test squad from their midweekers struck home, the tourists weren’t showing it yesterday.
All Blacks coach Hansen believes Warren Gatland will call in up to five new players to the tour party, which will boost the squad to 45 after fullback Stuart Hogg’s departure with a facial injury.
It is thought that some of the new players could come from the Wales squad who played Tonga in a unique double- header at Eden Park last night, a curtainraiser to the All Blacks v Manu Samoa test.
Scotland aren't far away either. They are in Australia and play Fiji next weekend, with England in Argentina and Ireland in Japan.
A Lions spokesman said Gatland didn’t want to comment on Hansen’s comments and assistant coach Steve Borthwick yesterday gave little away on Hansen’s assertion that there was a clear gulf between the Lions’ test team and the mid- weekers.
“If there’s a situation where callups are going to happen for any player, that will be dealt with at the appropriate time when the announcement is going to be made,” Borthwick said. “I’m concentrating on the game tomorrow [ tonight].”
Asked about his opinion of Hansen’s comments, Borthwick replied: “I’m not giving what anyone i s telling the media a second thought.”
Hansen’s gentle dig is the latest in a series. Before the tour, Gatland made a point of saying goalkicking would be a source of strength for the Lions, with Hansen replying that his fellow Kiwi was “clutching at straws if that's how you are selecting teams. You pick players who can do the job you want them to do, who play the style of game you want to play”.
The Lions tonight face the Maori All Blacks in Rotorua, a match likely to feature a near test- match intensity. For that reason, and in order to bed- in his top combinations, Gatland has named a near test- strength side, minus the injured inside back Owen Farrell. Farrell’s injury has clearly put the frighteners up the travelling media pack, for his quality of goalkicking and play under pressure, but Borthwick played a straight bat to this one as well, saying the Englishman was in the care of medical specialists and would return when ready.
A grade one quadriceps strain normally has a recovery period of between seven and 10 days.
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