Don’t get on the plane if you don’t believe you’ll win
helped to produce the definitive evidence that next summer’s mission improbable can be accomplished – and that is not just of value to the Lions players.
“Warren has said to the players, ‘Don’t get on the plane if you don’t believe you can win’. It’s the same for the coaching staff and the management,” said Farrell.
“If you look at the autumn and the confidence that the Four Nations have played with against the southern hemisphere, it is as good as it has been for quite a while.
“That’s great for the Lions because it has to be about belief and it has to be about making history in the hardest place in world rugby.” Coaches, like players, go in and out of form and Farrell is running hot.
But it is not simply the Wiganer’s record since joining Ireland that has attracted Gatland – impressive though knocking off all of the southern-hemisphere big three in the past five months is.
The Lions head coach spoke yesterday of the need to take the right type of person on the tour – individuals who would scrap like mad to win a place in the Test team but who would unreservedly support those who made it in ahead NORTHAMPTON Saints have been told they do have a case to answer over the handling of the concussion row surrounding George North.
The Wales wing has been referred to a neurologist after the incident in which he sustained another head injury in an aerial collision against Leicester on Saturday.
Saints claim they did not have access to the damning TV footage that appeared to show North unconscious and, of them. He told the tale of an unnamed player on the 2009 tour to South Africa who, having failed to make the side for the third Test, went out on the tiles and missed training two days before the game.
“If I’d have been in charge, I would have got him on the plane and sent him home. Tell him to explain to his family and the rugby world why he wasn’t prepared to turn up to training on the last week of the Lions tour,” Gatland said.
Gatland wants men made of the right stuff for the challenge ahead. Hence the call for Farrell. There were times during his rugby league career where he appeared to be made of iron and there were moments after England’s after giving him a Head Injury Assessment, allowed him to return to the field for the second half.
The case was taken up by a three-man Concussion Management Review Group, who concluded Saints have a case to answer and have passed the details on to the RFU and Premiership Rugby.
Saints could face a disrepute charge if found to painful World Cup exit a year ago that prompted Eddie Jones to release him, when he had to call on the same resilience.
“Any loss or dent is going to be the same, as a player or a coach. You take everything badly. If you didn’t care, you shouldn’t be there in the first place,” said Farrell.
“The World Cup was difficult because it was a home World Cup and you don’t get that opportunity again. But if you want to be the best you can be, you’ve got to embrace things like that and not let them beat you down. If they do, you’re in the wrong profession. “I was always super keen to get back on the horse
and get going. As have breached protocols surrounding head injuries.
Lions coach Warren Gatland joined the controversy, telling North, right, to put his health first before he considers playing again.
With Lions selection on the line this season, no player wants to be sidelined long term but Gatland said: “I promise you, there will be no pressure from June 3
Provincial union team (Whangarei)
June 7
Blues (Auckland)
June 10
Crusaders (Christchurch)
June 13
Highlanders (Dunedin)
June 17
Maori (Rotorua)
June 20
Chiefs (Hamilton)
June 24
New Zealand (1st Test, Auckland)
June 27
Hurricanes (Wellington)
July 1
New Zealand (2nd Test, Wellington)
July 8
New Zealand (3rd Test, Auckland)
personality and he will be energy source in New Zealand. There is water to pass under the bridge before then – perhaps even a Grand Slam shoot-out between Ireland and England in Dublin on the final day of the Six Nations. Even from this far out, it is tough to choose a winner of a game that could act as a final eliminator for the Lions. “England have been fantastic but other teams have grown as well,” said Farrell. “This Lions team will be very hard to pick.” me in terms of getting on the field quickly. “His health is the most important thing, not just in the short term but long term. There is evidence to show there are potentially long-term effects for people who have taken a number of knocks in contact sport. He needs to consider that, to see specialists to show he is 100 per cent right.”
TOUR SCHEDULE
It’s about making history in the hardest place in world rugby
the LONDON WELSH are to fold but hope to reform in the new year.
Chairman Gareth Hawkins admitted the 131-year-old club’s current business model is “totally unsustainable” and said they had no alternative but to seek voluntary liquidation.
However, the Exiles hope to reform in 2017 as a semi-professional outfit and raise £300,000 to regain their place in the Greene King IPA Championship.