HANSEN DIG AT LIONS SQUAD
NEW ZEALAND ignited the preLions series mind games as head coach Steve Hansen claimed the tourists are under pressure to succeed and suggested Warren Gatland’s selection had been predictable and one-dimensional. ‘It’s pretty much what you’d expect from Warren,’ said the man in charge of the world champions. ‘He likes his big ballcarriers in the middle of the park and big, grunty forwards so that’s what he’s picked. I expect we are going to get a similar game style to what we’ve always got whenever we have played a Warren Gatland team.’ Hansen was also mischievous on the wisdom of leaving out England captain Dylan Hartley, adding: ‘I think he would have been an asset, but I’m not picking the team.’ Gatland stated on Wednesday that Ireland’s win over New Zealand in Chicago last autumn would be used as a source of inspiration, but Hansen poured scorn on that, saying: ‘You’re clutching at straws if that’s how you are selecting teams.’ Yet he did concede this would be the best Lions squad to visit New Zealand for a ‘long, long time’, with ‘depth all the way through’. Hansen added: ‘They’ll come with a lot of expectation. I think it is going to be interesting to see how they cope with that — a lot more expectation than they’ve been used to — because people expect them to win.’ Meanwhile, if Lions fans wanted an insight into Gatland’s shock decision to pick Kyle Sinckler, one answer provided it. ‘I love playing rugby. I could be playing in the park for Battersea Ironsides (his former club), I don’t care. I just want to go out and hit people,’ said Sinckler, 24. Yet to start for England, the tight-head prop’s enthusiasm and raw power have catapulted him through the ranks. One of the first to congratulate him was Harlequins team-mate and veteran of two Lions tours, Adam Jones. ‘I’ll probably try to get him out for a steak on me,’ Sinckler said. ‘I’ll pick his brains and see if I can learn anything from him.’ Quins and Lions scrum coach Graham Rowntree was also in touch, along with fellow Quin and Lions tourist Joe Marler. Sinckler added: ‘I’d be an idiot not to soak up information from them like a sponge. I’ve watched them like an eagle. They think I’m a bit weird.’