A demotion that makes little sense
AS LIONS boss, Warren Gatland was never going to be a diplomat. We knew that from long ago. The Kiwi was Ireland coach from 1998 to his 2001 sacking and never attempted to pretend he was comfortable with the red tape and politics he encountered.
He has always been his own man but is taking things to an extreme in New Zealand, ill-advisedly antagonising countrymen with repeated accusations of cheating and now making first Test skipper Peter O’Mahony his headline victim as he seeks to get the Lions back in the series in Wellington.
In terms of fallout, the Corkman’s cruel and sudden fall from grace isn’t on a par with Brian O’Driscoll’s axing for the third Test in Australia four years ago – O’Driscoll was a four-time Lions tourist and global rugby icon.
But what O’Mahony’s ousting does do is recall the late Anthony Foley’s phrase about a pat on the back being only six inches from a kick in the backside. Things can change very quickly in this game and the people glad-handing you one week are the ones causing you distress the next.
O’Mahony’s Munster ‘mongrelness’ — vaunted by Gatland in the lead up to the first Test — has been swiftly decommissioned.
The writing was on the wall for O’Mahony when Gatland bemoaned the lack of pride among his forwards after they were bullied by New Zealand at the breakdown in Eden Park.
‘No pride? Let’s blame the captain’ was the UK media consensus, their ‘Peter the Great’ pre-game eulogies swiftly forgotten and now they have got their man — O’Mahony taking a bullet so tour captain Sam Warburton, whose form has been average since coming back from injury, can step up.
The All Blacks won’t be quaking in their boots seeing this Welshman coming — Justin Tipuric might have given them something more to think about, except he was played to a stand-still in Tuesday night’s draw with Hurricanes because of Gatland’s nonsense with his unused bench.
For O’Mahony, his unceremonious dumping is a chastening, undeserved development following an incredible 14 weeks where he came from nowhere in the Ireland ranks — an 11th-hour addition before the England Grand Slam game — to Lions skipper on consecutive Saturdays.
Now, he is yesterday’s man, a demotion that doesn’t make sense when set against the decision to allow AlunWyn Jones, a player who was way off the Test pace, retain his jersey.
Why is Gatland being so very generous to his Wales captain, while O’Mahony and England’s George Kruis (replaced by countryman Maro Itoje), have been left to carry the can for his ‘lack of pride’ accusation?
This national favouritism on the coach’s part will of course be forgotten on Saturday if the Lions somehow level the Test series. However, that is an Everest-like ‘if’ with Lions jerseys already being flogged at much reduced prices in Wellington sports shops.
A second Test defeat will turn the heat up on how poorly Gatland and his assistants have selected all tour. Gatland claimed the Test spots were open for everyone but they never were — a dozen players playing four times for the midweek side and little else. You were also left with the impression that Owen Farrell was inked for last week’s No10 shirt before the squad even flew out from London in May. The son of defence coach Andy didn’t deserve his spot ahead of Johnny Sexton who had gone through the horrors to play himself back into form.
At least they have copped on here, reinstating Sexton at No10, but the repositioning of Farrell at 12 shows up Gatland’s misguided faith in Ben Te’o, the rugby league convert who he had been praising as a ‘point of difference’ all tour.
He wasn’t. But Gatland, the coach with Teflon-like qualities, won’t admit he got it wrong.
He’s never that sort of diplomat.