WAR RENBAWL!
Furious Gatland blasts critics of his style and says they are jealous
WARREN Gatland was enraged yesterday when asked about renewed criticism of his tactics — dismissing the whole notion of so-called ‘Warrenball’ as a jealous slur.
The Lions head coach was responding to the latest claims about what is perceived to be a one- dimensional strategy based on the structured deployment of heavy ball-carriers. Having named his line-up to face the Blues at Eden Park tomorrow, the Kiwi was forced to address a subject that he has come to loathe and it prompted a tetchy reaction.
‘I don’t know why I have to keep defending myself,’ said Gatland, as he stood up to leave the room following a press conference at the Lions hotel here in Auckland.
The subject came up again in light of recent comments to
Sportsmail by Steve Hansen, the All Blacks head coach, as well as Eddie Jones, which suggested that the Lions will be blunt and predictable in attack.
Asked if his teams could really only play one way, Gatland hit back, saying: ‘What do you mean by one way? When did that way start? Was it when we were successful at Wasps, or when I was coaching Waikato in the Air New Zealand Cup? I don’t know, when did a certain style change?
‘A few years ago, Brian Smith (former England attack coach) coined a phrase “Warrenball” and I don’t know whether that was because he was jealous of how much success we had. We had a group of players who came through Wales at the time who ended up being pretty big, physical players. The modern game is about getting across the gainline, trying to get front-foot ball and playing to space if that is possible.’
In 2013, Gatland was besieged by far more strident and sustained criticism when he dropped Irish icon Brian O’Driscoll for the last Test against Australia in Sydney. However, his decision was fully vindicated as the Lions — with Jonathan Davies an influential figure at outside centre — used their power runners to deadly effect to smash the Wallabies 41-16 and clinch a series victory.
With reference to that episode, he added: ‘I think in a way it is an opportunity for people who want to be critical. We experienced that four years ago when people decided to be critical and a lot of people got caught with their pants down afterwards, didn’t they?’
The Lions will go to Eden Park tomorrow to face a Blues squad containing eight All Blacks, including double World Cup-winning centre Sonny Bill Williams. There will be a crowd of close to 45,000 — a record attendance in the history of this franchise — and that adds to the sense of the tourists rapidly entering dangerous territory.
Having scraped past a New Zealand Provincial Barbarians team full of part-timers 13-7 in Whangarei on Saturday, Gatland’s men are about to meet elite opposition.
This whole mission is on a knifeedge already. Lose tomorrow and they would head to Christchurch to meet the Crusaders, the unbeaten leaders in the Super Rugby standings, with backs firmly against the wall.
What the head coach wants to see from his players is a combination of ferocious intensity — to a level that wasn’t reached in the opening fixture — and bold ambition. ‘We’ve got to make sure we match fire with fire,’ said Gatland. ‘We’re going to expect a tough physical game, so we’ve got to be able to ramp that physicality up.’
However, Gatland reiterated his conviction that the Lions cannot achieve success on this tour by merely wielding a sledgehammer, adding: ‘To match the All Blacks, you have got to display a bit of X-factor and the players are being encouraged to express themselves and back their skills. We don’t want to play by numbers.’
THE Lions will be led by Scarlets and Wales hooker Ken Owens, who feared he might miss out on the trip due to an ankle injury. But he has recovered in time for this pivotal fixture and takes his place in a side featuring familiar combinations — designed to accelerate the quest for fluency and understanding. Ospreys half-back pair Rhys Webb and Dan Biggar will pull the strings, while Robbie Henshaw and Jared Payne form an all-Irish midfield.
England locks Maro Itoje and Courtney Lawes will form a hardhitting double-act. Itoje is ready to heed Gatland’s demand for a forceful performance, saying: ‘There hasn’t been a game I have played in professional rugby that I thought about taking it a bit easy. Every game you play has that physical element, and more often the most physical team is the team that wins it.’
Only four players in the 41-man squad have yet to be named in a match- day 23; Jonathan Davies, George North, Conor Murray and Sean O’Brien. All four are destined to be involved against the Crusaders on Saturday.
Very soon, the Test XV will begin to take shape, but for now this is still the audition phase. It’s also the danger phase. The Lions had better be over their jet-lag because the tour proper starts now.