Wound-up Warren loses cool with Kiwi coach Hansen
HAVING allowed All Blacks coach Steve Hansen set the agenda in New Zealand for 48 hours, Warren Gatland finally blew his top – geyser-like – in the geothermal city of Rotorua.
Hansen had outed Gatland’s plan to bring in a half-dozen call-ups this weekend and jested on Friday that all the Lions coach seemed to have up his sleeve was his arm.
At a post-match media conference, no prisoners were taken with Hansen firmly in Gatland’s crosshairs.
The Test series is now perfectly set up and Gatland will attempt to win it his way. Nobody else’s.
Upset with Hansen? ‘A little bit.’ Any idea why the concerted mind games? ‘I can only take that as a sign that he is a little bit worried potentially how good this Lions team could be,’ said Gatland before insisting there was no split in the tourists’ camp.
‘There is no way we are divided into two,’ he insisted. ‘We have been written off and it has brought us closer together as a group.
‘The harmony and the singing in the changing rooms from the guys who weren’t involved tonight and what it means to them in terms of the whole squad, we are very, very close. If Steve Hansen knows what is going on from outside, then he is a much better man than I am.’
Hansen taken to task, next up was the accusation that Gatland had damaged the prestige of the Lions with his controversial geographical-based call-up criteria.
Rather than select on form and potentially include Irish players in Japan and English players in Argentina, he opted for Welsh and Scottish players to lighten the load of his struggling midweek side following the loss of injured Ross Moriarty for the rest of the tour.
The rationale? Wales played in Auckland on Friday while Scotland were in action just across against Australia yesterday. There would be no delay getting them up to speed in time for the Chiefs in Hamilton on Tuesday.
‘In terms of devaluing the shirt, I can see some people’s point but we are here to win a Test series and it’s those guys covering from Auckland, not travelling halfway around the world,’ said Gatland.
‘We found it difficult the first 10 days here in terms of jet lag, tiredness and stuff. The players that came in from Auckland Friday night and from Australia will be able to fit quickly into the time zone.
‘My job is to win a Test series and I will do whatever it takes to do that,’ he added.