Lions chief fires back at O’Brien

Flanker’s got it wrong

THE LIONS hit back at Sean O’Brien yesterday after the flanker slammed preparations for the Test series in New Zealand this summer.

O’Brien, who played in all three Tests, blamed head coach Warren Gatland and attack coach Rob Howley for failing to lead the Lions to a whitewash in a threematch series that ended tied 1-1 with one draw.

But Lions chief executive John Feehan returned fire, saying: ‘We had the best coaching team available and they proved that in what we achieved in New Zealand. Against all the odds and with limited preparation time, this squad became only the second Lions team in history to either win or draw a series in New Zealand in 13 attempts. That achievement cannot be overstated.’

The tourists lost the first Test 30-15 and O’Brien said the management panicked in the build-up and ‘over-trained’ the players. And in a stinging assessment of attack coach Howley, O’Brien said Owen Farrell and Johnny Sexton ended up running backs sessions instead of the Welshman.

The Irishman claims the coaches ordered a triple training session on the Thursday before the first Test at Eden Park, adding: ‘The coaches have a lot to answer for.’

But Sportsmail has seen details of the schedule for the Test weeks, which seem to contradict O’Brien’s claims of a training overload.

Ahead of the first Test the players had an optional gym session on Thursday morning before training for 35 minutes in their units — with the forwards concentrating on line- outs and scrums. Then in the evening there was another 45-minute training session.

The schedule was tweaked for the second Test in Wellington. After victory to level the series, Gatland said: ‘ When we looked back on the first Test, our forwards were a bit heavy-legged.

‘I don’t think it was just the Thursday double session (that made players tired), it was the accumulation of three to four weeks of no days off, travel to the games, training, walk-through, the meetings. So we consciously lightened up last week.’

O’Brien admitted that plan was ‘perfect’, but then took another swipe, annoyed by a lack of training in the final week before the decider in Auckland.

The squad decamped to Queenstown for rest and recuperation, taking Monday and Tuesday off. Lions sources defend that approach, which worked on the 2009 and 2013 tours.

The forwards then trained for 67 minutes on the Wednesday before adding another 47-minute session on the Thursday, with the backs doing less. Friday, as in the first and second Test weeks, was used purely for a light run-through.

O’Brien repeated his claims last night on social media when he said: ‘To be clear, my views on the Lions tour were honest and genuine with the intention of building on what was a great tour.

‘Do I believe the players and coaches could have done better? Yes. Do I believe we could have won the series ? Yes. Do I believe the Lions squad in 2021 will be better for this? Yes.’