Keeping Itoje on the leash is wrong call
Of all people, surely, Brian O’Driscoll knows the feeling. ‘No Itoje, not sure,’ he tweeted in the immediate aftermath of the Lions team announcement. ‘The rest, strong as f***.’
O’Driscoll was the last player to feel the emptiness of being passed over in a Lions test by Warren Gatland, albeit in vastly different circumstances. Being left out of the decider in Australia four years ago was the end of his Lions career; keeping Maro Itoje on the bench for the opening Test with New Zealand, merely delays the start of his.
Yet, in its own way, it is almost as controversial. Gatland has his supporters in selecting Alun Wyn Jones at lock — Sir Clive Woodward, most of Wales — but Itoje had momentum, form and youth on his side.
He was the Lions’ wild card, its X factor and one cannot help but think that the place this selection would have been best received is the Heritage Hotel in Auckland, where the All Blacks reside.
Undoubtedly, they expected to be facing Itoje on Saturday, and not off the bench. Now, if they want to negate him, they know what to do. Have it won by the time he arrives. for a team as good as the All Blacks, that is not impossible.
Keeping the leash on Itoje could prove Gatland’s tour-defining call if the Lions do not prevail at Eden Park. He will accept that, too, having controversially dropped O’Driscoll, and won. Gatland knew the hostility of the reaction if that call had gone awry and he will be braced for it here. If anything goes wrong, the absence of Itoje will be high in any post-match inquest.
It is a pity for Jones, too, for such a great player to be the subject of feverish controversy. He does not deserve to be that guy, the one whose place in the team is resented. Had Itoje been in anything less than gamechanging form on this tour, Jones’s inclusion would have brooked no argument.
Equally, there are obvious reasons why Gatland would go with Jones. This is a player he knows he can rely upon, a warrior who has never let him down.
Itoje is a rookie. He might be unpredictable under pressure. In the heat of a Lions Test, he might lack the cool head the occasion demands. The Lions can ill afford indiscipline at Eden Park, where New Zealand last lost in 1994. Of in Test two, or three. Yet, Gatland’s assistant, Graham Rowntree, made plain the importance of that initial selection.
‘That first team is massive,’ he insisted. ‘It says: “This is us.” You’ve got to win this first Test. You’ve got to get it right from the get-go. It’s so important. We’re prepared to gamble. We’ve got enough for a blend, enough tried and trusted players, but you can’t argue with form. Lack of experience won’t hold anyone back. If they’re good enough to beat the All Blacks, they’ll be starting.’
If that sounds like a swipe at Itoje, it should be noted Rowntree was speaking before the team announcement. He made his feelings clear when asked specifically about the rising star of the English game.
‘He’s a class player and he’s only going to get better and better,’ Rowntree added. ‘I can’t speak highly enough of the fella — from the set- pieces to his involvement around the field. His aggression, his constant energy, the lads love that and feed off it.
‘He doesn’t play like a young man. I watched him win the Under 20 World Championship final in New Zealand with England in 2014 — and I thought he’d be on this Lions trip then. We’ve had our eye on him for a long time. He led that tour. He was always going to come through — and here he is.’
Well, here he isn’t, actually. And predictably, back home, the accusations and conspiracy theories abound. That is unfair, too. If Gatland hated the English he wouldn’t have picked seven of them. If Gatland had a blind spot for Wales he would have found room for George North, Sam Warburton and Leigh Halfpenny.
Itoje is not the only famous casualty of what was always going to be the most ruthless selection but, make no mistake, he is the biggest one.
Should he be starting? Yes.