Gatland admits that backlash influenced tactics
Late call-ups overlooked to avoid devaluing jersey Decision leaves senior players battling fatigue
Warren Gatland has admitted that the public furore over his decision to call six players in to his British and Irish Lions squad because of their proximity to New Zealand forced him to reconsider playing them in the final two midweek matches of the tour.
Gatland named all of the “geography six” on the bench for yesterday’s 31-31 draw with the Hurricanes in Wellington, but resolved not to bring them on unless one of his starting side suffered an injury – with only Finn Russell playing, for five minutes in the first half.
That contributed to the Lions throwing away a 14-point lead in the final 12 minutes against the Hurricanes, and is likely to have a severe knock-on effect for Saturday’s second Test against New Zealand, with several squad members now battling fatigue to push for a place in the 23.
Lock Iain Henderson, who put himself firmly into contention for a Test spot with a superb individual display, was forced to play for 70 minutes, while the front row of Joe Marler, Rory Best and Dan Cole all played the entire match – the first time that has happened in a game involving a tier one nation since 2013.
Leigh Halfpenny, who came on as a replacement for Liam Williams in the first Test defeat at Eden Park last Saturday, had to play 61 minutes yesterday, after Robbie Henshaw sustained a shoulder injury that is expected to end his tour. George Kruis, who played all 80 minutes in the first Test, was called upon to play for 25 minutes, after Courtney Lawes was taken off, suggesting that the Northampton player will now be named in the Test squad.
It comes a week after Williams played for 80 minutes against the Chiefs before playing for 72 minutes in the first Test. Alun Wyn Jones, meanwhile, had to play 28 minutes as a replacement for Courtney Lawes against the Chiefs before also starting the first Test.
Gatland admitted that the media furore had played a part in his decision not to use the replacements.
“I think so much was made about devaluing the jersey and all those bits and pieces, so we made a decision that we would try to get through the game with as many of the starting XV as we could,” he said.
Asked whether the criticism had directly affected his use of the replacements, Gatland said: “Possibly. So much was made of that, and I understand people’s views, so you’ve got to take cognisance of that. So we took a collective decision that we make them as injury or HIA [Head Injury Assessment] replacements, which is what happened on two occasions.”
Gatland insisted, however, that the six – who also included Welshmen Tomas Francis, Gareth Davies, Kristian Dacey and Cory Hill, as well as Scot Allan Dell, all of whom are expected to fly back to the UK at the end of this week – had still played a role.
“Those players were called out as cover,” Gatland added. “There’s a lot been made about that in terms of the decision we made to bring players in for cover and to protect as many of the Test 23 as we could. If we hadn’t had those players there tonight, we’d have probably had players from the bench on Saturday who would have been exposed.
“We lost Robbie Henshaw and Dan Biggar went off with an HIA. So potentially we would have been exposing players from the Test 23 earlier on.”
The controversy over his substitutions came as Gatland said he “couldn’t give a toss” about his depiction as a clown on the front page of the sports section of the New Zealand Herald, for the second time this year.
The Herald’s cartoon was in response to the war of words between Gatland and his All Blacks counterpart Steve Hansen, who called a local radio station to describe the Lions head coach as “desperate” for claiming Conor Murray had been deliberately targeted in the first Test.
“I haven’t read anything from Hansen’s quotes,” Gatland said. “The only thing I heard was that he had rung up a radio station. I thought that was quite unusual for an international coach.
“But I’m not worried about what Steve Hansen says or what any newspaper draws me up as. I just hope it was a happy clown!
“Look, as a Kiwi, you’d like to think you’d come home and things would be more positive from one or two members of the media. That hasn’t happened. But you can’t let that get to you. You’ve just got to take that on the chin and not get affected by it.
“There’s been a significant campaign against me personally. But that’s water off a duck’s back to me. I’ve just got to concentrate on doing my job and not worry about any specific individuals who try and make it personal. It’s just part of professional sport. I couldn’t give a toss if that’s happening.”