Gatland: Has he got it right?

The first Test against the All Blacks is just five days away and controversy still stalks the Lions squad. With the latest call-ups provoking allegations that the jersey is being ‘devalued’, Sportsmail’s experts give their views on the tour so far ‘I’m am

I AM flying down to New Zealand later this week quietly confident that the Lions will be smiling on Saturday night. Warren Gatland has undoubtedly got his preparation right and they have a very decent chance of achieving an upset in the first Test. I see a team and squad peaking at the right time — the stage is set for an epic encounter. There is clearly a sea change going on in rugby since the 2015 World Cup, when the southern hemisphere provided all four semi-finalists. Australia are declining sharply, Argentina are standing still while South Africa have huge issues. An understrength England have just beaten the Pumas 2-0 in Argentina, Gregor Townsend’s Scotland have claimed a famous win in Sydney and, frankly, it is only New Zealand that are truly flying the flag for southern hemisphere rugby at present. Is this the occasion when they, too, crash to the northern hemisphere? Some things never change. If you have a world-class forward pack that can ensure real quality set-piece possession and win the collisions, you are in business. If you have a world-class kicker behind that pack, you always have a chance and the Lions are likely to field two in Owen Farrell and Leigh Halfpenny. And if you have a physical, welldisciplined defence you can always hang tough and stay in the game until the chances come. The Lions also have that. I am reassured by the presence of Gatland at the helm, too. I have been amazed at some of the criticism he copped for bringing in the four Welsh lads and the two Scots at short notice to augment the squad for the two midweek games against the Chiefs in Waikato and the Hurricanes.

This is a man who understands Kiwi rugby and what it takes to thrive down there. He also understands the Lions as well as anybody. He was part of a famous Waikato win over the Lions in 1993 — so he knows what it means for a Kiwi to beat a Lion — he was assistant coach with the 2009 Lions and he made the decisIons that saw the Lions seize victory in Australia in 2013. You don’t have to agree with every decision Gatland makes but never doubt that everything he does is with the sole purpose of, hopefully, enabling the Lions to win the Test series. I for one am very glad it will be Gatland up on the top table this week handling the verbals which Steve Hansen seems to have started. New Zealand will get no joy out of Gatland in that respect. He gives as good as he gets and the players and fans will love him for that. They read the press and are online every day seeing what has been said and they will love that Gatland never backs down. With regards to the replacements issue, he just is doing what it takes. He is calling in players, basically on the same time zone which is just plain common sense. In 2005, I felt we needed to travel with the makings of two 22-man matchday squads from the start, which I still think is the right way to approach a Lions tour in New Zealand, but it was very challenging to operate. Warren has delayed that for as long as possible and then just brought in the reinforcements to do specific jobs in two particular games. Everything is for the common cause and those six called in are doing a valuable job and contributing to the Lions effort. To say this is devaluing the Lions shirt is nonsense and an attitude from a bye-gone era. Those same voices who felt the need to publicly question Gatland when he had the temerity to leave out Brian O’Driscoll four years ago. The only thing which matters, and which adds value to the Lions shirt, is beating New Zealand this weekend and/or winning the Test series. End of story.