Warren: I want happy bunnies
a player in the last week who was not involved in the last Test and had too much to drink on the Wednesday night and wouldn’t get out of bed for training.
“If I’d have been in charge, I would have got him on the plane and sent him home. Tell him to explain to his family and the rugby world why he wasn’t prepared to turn up to training on the last week of the Lions tour.”
Gatland is a Kiwi and nearly, but not quite, an All Blacks hooker himself so he knows the scale of the task ahead. It is not just the three-Test series which will stretch the tourists but every one of the
tour games too, such is New Zealand’s depth of talent. Unity is everything for the Lions. Hence the character test.
His stand-off and key playmaker in Australia four years ago was Ireland’s Johnny Sexton. He may well be again if he shakes off his hamstring issues, but Gatland wants to double check that if he is not fit he can fulfil a supportive role too.
“The Lions can be a different sort of beast when you have the quality of players to choose from that we will. It’s different,” said Gatland.
“Johnny hasn’t played a lot of rugby recently. The conversation with Johnny might go: ‘We might take you on tour but there’s been a little bit of concern about your durability. If you do pick up a knock or an injury and you’re out for a couple of weeks the quality of the squad is such that someone else could step into your shoes.
“When you come back in an Ireland situation, it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been out, you go straight back into the team as No 1. If you come into a Lions situation, if someone is playing well, you might not be going back into that starting side as a 10, you might be sitting on the bench or not involved.
“How are you going to be able to handle that? Are you going to be prepared for that? What’s your attitude around the team and squad going to be like?’
“If I’m doing my job properly, I’ve had that conversation with him and potentially he’s got his head right and he’s prepared for that potential eventuality if it does happen.”
There will be similar conversations with other players in the weeks ahead. There will be other slightly different ones too.
Gatland added: “I can think of one player now and the conversation with him might go: ‘I don’t see you starting Tests but given your experience you will be brilliant playing in the midweek side and a great tourist. If there’s injuries and your form is good enough there’s no reason you can’t play in Tests but this is where I see you at the moment. Are you happy with that role?’”
It is a curious and complex business putting together a squad to beat the best on the other side of the world. But if the head coach’s painstakingly thought-out blending process works, the Lions have a shot.
“If we get things right off the field, we’ve a chance of getting them right on it,” he said.