Refusal to field the ‘geography six’ shows coach has lost way

Gatland’s decision not to play controversial squad replacements has tied his hands for Saturday

One of the first things you are taught as a player is not to compound a mistake by making another, i.e. do not make a bad situation worse. Unfortunately, that is precisely what Warren Gatland has done with his handling of the “geography six”.

Initially, I held back from criticising Gatland about calling up Kristian Dacey, Allan Dell, Tomas Francis, Cory Hill, Gareth Davies and Finn Russell. His explanation was that the proximity of the Wales and Scotland tours would help those players acclimatise a lot quicker. Even if you disagreed with the principles, the logic was clear.

I also believe that a commercial consideration counted against England players based in Argentina. If Gatland had to fight to expand his initial squad, then you can bet the bean counters will have put their foot down on paying for business-class flights from South America to New Zealand.

Yet, surely, Gatland must have been aware of how his decision would be perceived. The Lions have always marketed themselves as being the absolute pinnacle of British and Irish rugby. Then you pick Dacey and Hill ahead of Dylan Hartley and Joe Launchbury. A backlash was inevitable.

Gatland has dealt with enough of these before, particularly with the decision to drop Brian O’driscoll in the last Lions series, so I find it incredible that he refused to use the “geography six” from the bench yesterday except for an injury because of the negative public reaction. If you make the initial decision, then you need to have the courage to see it through.

A lot of criticism is made from the comfortable armchair marked “hindsight”; the second-row combination of George Kruis and Alun Wyn Jones did not play particularly well in the first Test, so people will say Gatland clearly should have played Maro Itoje and Courtney Lawes instead. If they had played well, we would not have heard a peep.

In this case, Gatland has brought it all upon himself. In effect, he was limiting himself to two replacements – Kruis and Leigh Halfpenny – for the draw against the Hurricanes yesterday. That meant the entire front row putting in an 80-minute shift, which effectively rules them out of starting the second Test.

Dan Cole had another strong game and I think he has had an excellent tour. So, what happens if Tadhg Furlong pulls a hamstring in training tomorrow? Does he turn to Kyle Sinckler, who seems tailor-made to be an impact replacement, or does he ask Cole to back up 80 minutes within five days?

All of this smacks of poor planning. You do not want to pick out individuals but probably five backs and three forwards should not have been picked. Their performances and ability did not merit selection.

I go on and on about it, but the composition of the back three as a unit is just as important as the front row. Gatland needed to have gone on the tour knowing who his back three were going to be. He did not and that made him a hostage to form.

George North is a prime example. Gatland is not playing a style of rugby where he is going to touch the ball a lot, so he has not impressed, yet he remains his most dangerous strike weapon.

Hearing the Lions lost the first Test because of “missed

If you make the initial decision, then you need to have the courage to see it through

opportunities” makes me want to scream. “Missed opportunities” actually hides the detail which is that the All Blacks are a lot quicker in thought and deed.

What is worrying about the second Test is that the All Blacks will not get any slower. The only option is for the Lions to play with more pace everywhere.

The one thing that Gatland was not guilty of was overreacting to New Zealand’s treatment of Conor Murray. If you go for the standing leg like Jerome Kaino did, then there is a good chance you are going to break his leg or at the very least cause some ligament damage. Reckless, dangerous and potentially premeditated – that is a citing offence any day of the week.

For Steve Hansen to use it to have a pop at Gatland was out of order. My hope is that the squad can use an attack on their coach to galvanise themselves for victory in the second Test. That may be clutching at straws – but that is all the Lions have at the moment.

Austin Healey is a proud ambassador of Jeep Grand Cherokee. www.jeep.co.uk