GATLAND IS A BULLY, SAYS HANSEN

ALL BLACKS coach Steve Hansen has accused Warren Gatland of ‘bullying’ referee Jaco Peyper ahead of tomorrow’s opening Test. Lions boss Gatland has increased tension between the two camps by voicing concerns about the All Blacks using illegal blocking. Now Hansen insists the attempts to influence officials are unfair. ‘If I talk to the media about it, then I am applying pressure and that is comparable to bullying him, so I don’t want to do that,’ he said when asked if he would voice any of his own concerns. ‘I’ll just quietly talk to him on Friday and there are certain areas we will talk about. ‘Have we got concerns? We just want the referee to referee the way they said they would in March and to be consistent. ‘Will there be mistakes? Yes, because they are human, just like both teams will make mistakes. There is no point trying to bully the referees publicly in the media.’ Insisting blocking is a widespread problem, Hansen said: ‘The rule says as long as you don’t change your direction of running, then you’re entitled to run back and help your team-mate. That is the key. If you run five metres to get in front of someone, then you’re dumb. In that case, Gats is quite right. ‘It happens every week. If you look at the Samoa game, it happened to us and I’m sure if Warren is willing and able to look closely at his own team, they’ve been doing it, too.’ Meanwhile, referee Joel Jutge has ended the 12-year debate over Tana Umaga and Keven Mealamu’s spear-tackle on Brian O’Driscoll by admitting he should have sent off the All Blacks. They got away with ending O’Driscoll’s tour in the first minute of the first Test in 2005 with a tackle that could have broken his neck. Now, speaking publicly about it for the first time, Jutge has revealed his regret at the error. ‘It should have at least been one red card,’ the Frenchman told

Sportsmail. ‘Maybe Mealamu. Maybe Umaga. Maybe both. We didn’t see it, so we didn’t sanction it. ‘I was really upset with myself. I realised at the post-match reception when someone said we missed an awful speartackle. When I reviewed it back at the hotel, I was very unhappy. ‘The officials should have worked better together.’