KIWI DIRTY TRICKS RILE TOUR BOSS

LIONS boss Warren Gatland has accused New Zealand players of dirty tricks and demanded match officials come down hard on them.

He arrived in Hamilton in high spirits after the Lions’ beat the Maori All Blacks.

And the British and Irish head coach went straight on the offensive in his hometown – having learned his lesson of last week when he allowed All Blacks’ Steve Hansen to boss the agenda.

Gatland let rip at the illegal practice of blocking and holding players off the ball which he insists has cost his team numerous try opportunities on this tour.

He said: “It’s part of the game in New Zealand, all New Zealand teams at the moment are doing it.

“The frustrating thing for us is the amount of it that’s going on.

“It makes it difficult to complete attacking opportunities and situations because so much is happening off the ball in terms of holding or subtly holding players.

“I know how difficult it is to pick up because it tends to happen away from the ball. But we have to be aware of it and to make the officials aware of it. We’ve raised it with the referee already.”