Gatland: Lions win will ‘worry’ All Blacks
Coach fires back at rival Hansen ahead of first Test No apology after call-ups to squad cause controversy
Warren Gatland, the British and Irish Lions head coach, has stoked the fires ahead of the Test series with New Zealand by suggesting that his All Black counterpart, Steve Hansen, will be “worried” after the tourists’ thumping 32-10 win over the Maori All Blacks.
Hansen has made several sharp comments about the Lions this week but Gatland hit back following his side’s impressive win in rain-soaked Rotorua, claiming the New Zealand head coach would be rattled by what he had seen from the tourists.
“I’m surprised by Steve Hansen, who is normally pretty calm, and I can only take that as a sign of respect in that he is worried,” said Gatland. “It’s unlike Steve and maybe he is worried by potentially how good this Lions team can be. The off-field stuff puts a bit of a dampener on the tour.”
Hansen revealed in midweek that the Lions would be calling up players from outside the squad to bolster the replacements’ bench for Tuesday’s game against the Chiefs in Hamilton.
The Lions have indeed summoned six players from the Scotland and Wales tours in Australia and New Zealand, a move that has been widely criticised as just two of those players were contenders for selection in the initial 41-man touring party.
Despite that, Gatland has rounded on Hansen’s suggestion that his call-ups would lead to splits in the Lions’ camp.
“No way are we divided,” said Gatland. “We’ve been written off, and from people saying that’s put a split in us, it’s brought us closer together as a group. The harmony, with the boys singing in the changing rooms with the guys who weren’t involved tonight and what it means to them in terms of the whole squad, we’re very, very close. If Steve Hansen knows what’s going on from outside, then he’s a much better man than I am.”
There has been a furious reaction on social media to Gatland’s decision to base his call-ups on geography rather than on merit, with former Lion Stephen Ferris saying it “devalues the badge”.
With the exception of scrum-half Gareth Davies, the three other Wales players, hooker Kristian Dacey, lock Cory Hill and prop Tomas Francis, are not considered front-line Test players and while Scotland fly-half Finn Russell was in the original mix for selection, Edinburgh prop Allan Dell was most certainly not.
Gatland recognises that his decision will ignite debate but made no apology for prioritising the needs of the players preparing for the first Test whom he wants to protect from having to double up by playing against the Chiefs.
England head coach Eddie Jones criticised the fact that his players, on tour in Argentina, had not even been considered, saying: “The boys could be there. It should be picked on merit rather than geographical proximity.”
Gatland responded: “I’ll let Eddie do his own talking, he can do plenty of it. I understand the concerns and we did similarly in 2013 in terms of the callups. It’s all about the Test series. It’s about giving the 23 the best of a week’s preparation ahead of the first Test. I just don’t think you’re able to back up and try to prepare for Tuesday and then try and turn around and win the game on Saturday.
“I have no doubt it’s one of the reasons why we won the first Test in 2013 because we gave the Test team a chance to win the Test, and if we hadn’t have done that then we could have easily lost the series.
“Does it devalue the shirt? The players that came in from Auckland last night and from Australia will be able to fit quickly into our time zone. These guys will be with us for a week and they are for bench cover.
“They understand that’s the way it is. My job is to win a Test series and I will do whatever it takes to do that.”
Gatland reported that Owen Farrell was progressing well from the thigh strain that ruled him out of the Maori game.
The Wales back-row forward Ross Moriarty, who injured his back in the opening game of the tour, has returned home.