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Greig Laidlaw has defended Warren Gatland’s decision to draft in six new players to the British and Irish Lions squad.

Gatland, whose Lions were impressive 32-10 winners against the Maori All Blacks in Rotorua on Saturday, came under scrutiny for appearing to prioritise geographic proximity over meritocratic selection by adding four Wales players and two Scots to his touring party. Wales quartet Cory Hill, Kristian Dacey, Gareth Davies and Tomas Francis have made the short trip from Auckland to link up, with Scotland duo Allan Dell and Finn Russell jetting in from Australia. All six have been named on the bench for tomorrow’s match against the Chiefs in Hamilton, to keep the frontline players fresh for Saturday’s first Test against New Zealand.

Head coach Gatland has been accused of devaluing the Lions shirt in deeming England’s tourists in Argentina and Ireland’s in Japan to require too much travel time to join his