GAT HITS BACK AT TOUR FLAK
Owen’s the hero as Lions show their claws
WARREN GATLAND hit back at his critics after the British and Irish Lions fought their way past Crusaders yesterday. After losing the second game of the tour in midweek – hot on the heels of an unconvincing win in their opener last Saturday – Lions head coach Gatland (left) has come in for criticism. But he said: “It’s been a tough week, a really tough week. There’s been a lot of criticism. “People have written the tour off after two games. “That’s been challenging. “We’ve had to stay strong, keep the faith and remember the goal is the Test matches. “I hope we didn’t disappoint too many people with the result.”
OWEN FARRELL delivered a masterclass as the Lions finally roared in the Land of the Long White Cloud.
Farrell and Warren Gatland’s Lions answered all the questions and every critic with a win of substance and serious promise. This was the day the 2017 Lions built a Test-quality outfit. This was the day the Lions proved they might just be able to mix it with the back-to-back world champions New Zealand. The sight of home fans leaving in their droves before full-time will have left every Lions fan sporting a smile – especially after Wednesday’s disheartening 22-16 defeat to Blues. The locals booed Farrell for kicking the ball out to signal the final whistle but that will not bother the tourists one jot. By then the fly-half had booted all the Lions’ points as the tourists made it two wins from three games and inflicted a first defeat of the season on Crusaders. Farrell said: “It takes time to get used to each other. We have just got to make sure we put that work in. We have got to look at the positives.” Despite not scoring a try the Lions kept the free-scoring Crusaders to just a penalty from Richie Mo’unga and Farrell said his side deserve credit for their display. Farrell added: “These are good sides, they are not going to give tries away. “They’re a team that can hurt people from anywhere so to back it up with some good defence is impressive. I thought we caused them some problems.” Captain for the day Alun Wyn Jones added: “We had to show up today. There are bits to work on but it was a huge improvement from the last game.” Crusaders captain Sam Whitelock said: “We’re not happy with our game but credit to the Lions.”