We’re all well aware how big this match will be, but it won’t be career- defining
WARREN GATLAND Q&A
FOR the first time since the 1993 tour of New Zealand, the Lions have named an unchanged Test team.
Rugby correspondent SIMON THOMAS was on hand to hear coach Warren Gatland explain that call and give his thoughts on Saturday’s huge series decider against the All Blacks at Eden Park. Q: How tempted were you to make changes? A: Not very. Q: Given how much you have talked about discipline this week, did Mako Vunipola’s four penalties and yellow card make you think about a change in that position? A: No. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with the first one where he has gone to charge down a kick and he has followed through. Codie Taylor does exactly the same thing in exactly the same time frame and it’s not a penalty.
If you put the two of them side by side, they are exactly the same, so Mako was a bit unlucky. The one where the referee has penalised him for going on his knee is absolutely marginal where he is competed on the ball.
He hasn’t collected Barrett’s head (with the clear-out yellow card) and then there’s a scrum penalty. Q: So, you haven’t called him to one side to have a word with him about it this week? A: We’ve had a word with the team about making sure we give away less penalties than the opposition.
I just thought there were a couple of times where Mako was a bit unlucky. There were dumber penalties given away in the game by other players, those are the ones that are avoidable. Q: How surprised have you been by some people questioning the intensity of your preparation this week? A: I always get questioned about everything, it’s not unusual for people to have a pop at me and question things. We had a pretty tasty session today, with some verbals. It was a bit testy. Everyone is pretty aware how important the game is.
It’s about having emotional control, you want to take it to the edge but you don’t want to go over the top as well. Q: How much bigger does Auckland feel than Sydney ahead of the deciding Test four years ago? A: To be honest, we’re a bit isolated here in the hotel. You get to see people on the way to training and match day.
Over the next couple of days we’ll probably feel the impact of that. I thought the fans in Wellington were fantastic. The support we had from the crowd obviously had an impact and we’re looking forward to a brilliant atmosphere on Saturday. Q: Is this a career-defining moment for the players and coaches? A: There’s no pressure on the players from the Lions perspective because they go back to the luxury of their club sides and their national unions.
On a Lions tour I don’t think the players are under any pressure for their future. They can go and play and relax. It’s not going to affect their future selections. For a number of them, I’m not their coach.
There is always a lot of pressure on the coaches. We’ve said that before in 2009 and 2013. There’s no difference in that. You know when you take the job on there’s going to be a lot of focus on the coaches, particularly the head coach. That’s part of the expectation, part of the role. Q: Is there pressure in general terms going into such a big game? A: We’re all under pressure aren’t we, but a good pressure. You’ve got to be excited about it, it’s one of the biggest games of their lives. It’s not going to define them though.
It’s a pressure you relish. It’s why you do all those hours of training and preparation. You want those big moments in sport and sometimes they don’t come around that often.
There’s nothing better than a decider as a top sportsman. That’s pressure about the match, but not pressure about the future.
This group of players, they have an opportunity to leave a bit of a legacy. There have been 11 Lions tours of New Zealand and only one has ever been won. Q: Is it career-defining for you? A: Not at all, I’m pretty happy with what I’ve achieved in my career.
In 2019, I’ll probably finish up after the World Cup and go to the beach and maybe retire and enjoy myself. This is definitely not career-defining I can promise you that. Q: Is this weekend relevant in terms of what you do after the World Cup? A: I’m a great believer in what will be will be. That’s the way I’ve always been.
I don’t think about the future, I don’t sit here and plan what I’m going to do in 2019 or what I’m going to do next year.
Things have just happened for the right reason, or I’ve been lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. For me, the future will take care of itself. Q: How pleased are you with the effect of Queenstown in terms of getting the preparation right for Saturday? A: Look, all I know is these guys needed a break. They have been training for 11 months. We had one day off, which was the Wednesday before the first Test, where we weren’t travelling or doing something.
The plan was to give them a couple of days off this week. Now we could have come straight to Auckland, but when you come to New Zealand, so far away, it’s one of the most beautiful countries in the world.
So when you get a chance to go to Queenstown and you want to give the players an opportunity to experience that, why not avail of that, why not use that as a chance to have a couple of days off?
We could have done it anywhere, but we decided to do it somewhere that’s incredibly beautiful and we did it the same in Noosa four years ago. Q: What are your thoughts on the All Blacks team that has named and the changes in their back-line? A: The one surprise for me initially was probably Julian Savea being called back in. But you can understand the selection in terms of his experience with Jordie Barrett at 15 and Laumape at 12 both having first starts.
We expect the All Blacks to be much more aggressive defensively and Savea to play a lot more front line to try and shut us down. Q: What has to be different this week and where are you looking for the most improvement? A: We weren’t happy with the number of penalties we gave away, so that’s been our focus in terms of not giving away soft penalties.
We haven’t really spoken about the All Blacks. It’s been about us. It feels a bit strange and almost like a role reversal.
Normally when you pick a team to play the All Blacks you try to stop all their threats, but we haven’t even spoken about that, we’ve just concentrated on our own game and doing what’s been successful for us.
There hasn’t been too much chat about the individuals in their team. We didn’t even speak today about the team they selected. Q: How much more is there within the group in terms of potential?
We think we’re just scratching the surface. We think this team has got better and better and we think we can get better again on Saturday.
We know we’ve got another level in us and that’s incredibly exciting that the players feel like if we click we can do something pretty special. Q: What are you expecting from Saturday’s referee Romain Poite? A: I just hope the referees go in with an open mind. That’s all I’m asking, that if the Lions play well enough they’re good enough to win. Q: Have you enjoyed the last few weeks or will that depend on Saturday’s result? A: The last few weeks have been challenging, probably more challenging for my family and stuff. It’s been hard preparing two teams for a week. We haven’t been based in one place and there’s been amount of travelling The quality of opposition has been great from a rugby perspective, but that has made it by far the hardest tour we have been on as coaches.
It’s been tough, but hopefully we can get the result on Saturday that makes it all worthwhile and rewarding afterwards. Q: So after everything you have faced, how satisfying would it be to get a series win against the world champions?
A: That’ll be reflective I think. It will probably be afterwards I’d look back on some of the things that have happened. I have to reiterate that the hospitality we have had in New Zealand and the people wherever we have gone have been brilliant.
The support I’ve had personally from friends, family, ex-team mates, people off the street has been phenomenal. I really appreciate that. Q: You talk about this team leaving a legacy, what do you want that to be? A: I think we were conscious coming to New Zealand that we wanted to be seen as good tourists both on and off the field. I’d like to think we’ve done that.
People tried to pigeon hole us that we were going to play a pretty direct, boring game, but I think we’ve played some great rugby.
But you always want to end up as a winner. So for us the focus is on winning the series. That was our ultimate goal. It was having the confidence and belief when we got on the plane that we were good enough to win, even though we were written off from day one.