GATLAND PUTS HIS FAITH IN FINN103 37-MAN PRIDE OF LIONS TO ‘It’s not about where they come from’

Warren sees Scotland stand-off as perfect fit for challenge ahead

ARESOUNDING vote of confidence for Finn Russell, a sizeable endorsement of ‘too small’ Hamish Watson — and a pretty decent gag about gunboats providing maritime security for his team’s Jersey training camp.

All lapped up by an audience eager to see Warren Gatland lead a disparate band of friends and rivals to victory on this summer’s British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa.

Has the Kiwi’s grasp of international diplomacy improved exponentially ahead of his third tour as Lions head coach?

Or were we all just in a more receptive mood because he was being so nice about the Scots — all eight of them — named in the touring party yesterday?

Gatland can testify that it’s impossible to keep everyone happy when trying to cram the best players from four rugby nations into an expanded 37-man squad.

And there will be arguments, naturally, about some of the players left out of a group chosen to take on the World Cup-winning Springboks.

Johnny Sexton will be a slightly surprising omission for some. Jonny Gray, too. Kyle Sinckler, Billy Vunipola, Jonathan Davies… all will have their champions.

But the guys selected are entitled to feel they’ve more than earned their spots.

And, from a slightly parochial perspective, the number of Scotland players involved feels like further proof of the national team’s return to international relevance.

Gatland has always been something of a bogey man to a lot of Scottish rugby fans.

Simultaneously dismissing him as somehow biased against the Scots, while not-so-secretly craving his approval, even the most one-eyed of Murrayfield regulars will be celebrating the country’s largest Lions contingent for 32 years.

It arguably means more because we know that none of Gregor Townsend’s men will be there on reputation alone.

Take, for instance, Gatland’s insistence that Racing 92 stand-off Russell is a perfect fit for the challenge ahead.

‘We’ve got differences with our tens and that was important,’ said the former Wales coach, who also named Dan Biggar and Owen Farrell as fly-half options.

‘I thought the best game Finn played in the Six Nations was against France. And what impressed most was his game management. The way he controlled the game, turning France around and moving the ball when opportunities came about.

‘His kicking game and putting them under pressure was excellent.

‘He’s got so much more of a balanced game now, in terms of when to run and when to turn teams around, when to kick.

‘To me, we understand there are some really quality tens out there.

‘It was important for us to send a message, particularly to Finn, that we back him and we have the confidence in him to put pressure on the other tens, put his hand up for the Test side.

‘It was a really important message for me to be able to deliver to someone like Finn. We understand that someone like Johnny Sexton will be disappointed. What a great player he is.

‘It wasn’t anything about concussion, I can promise you that, but it was looking at the durability, knowing how tough South Africa is going to be from that point of view.

‘And it was me sending the right message to the tens selected, saying we trust you, we back you and we’re going to pick you from the start.

‘You’re so important to us in such a pivotal role. Having confidence there is very important.’ Scotland’s wins at Twickenham and in Paris definitely played a part in Gatland’s thinking, with attack coach Townsend not having to push too hard to get some of his men into the wider group. This despite some concerted lobbying, in certain quarters, aimed at disparaging one player who did so much to inspire the Scots to those historic away wins in the Six Nations.

Plenty of pundits, coaches and ex-pros seemed determined to dismiss Watson as no more than a fringe candidate.

Their line of attack involved simply citing the Edinburgh flanker’s official height and weight as evidence of some fatal flaw. Without paying attention to how he uses his 16-stone, six-foot frame.

‘He’s Six Nations Player of the Tournament, so he can’t be that small,’ said Gatland, addressing the criticism head-on.

‘A lot of players have different attributes. We know he’s brave, we know he’s physical.

‘He’s going to have to be good on the ball and jackal, be good at turnovers as well. Someone like Tadhg Beirne, for example, was outstanding in that area. Hamish is going to have to be the same, as are the other loose forwards.

‘Everyone is going to need a point of difference. We know how brave he is, he can carry the ball, we’ll look at footwork and variation in terms of his offload game.

‘And, look, he deserves this selection. He’s been a handful for players to deal with.

‘There’s no doubt he’s been an important part of that Scottish team and the success they’ve had.’

Gatland, who reckons Edinburgh prop Rory Sutherland should have recovered from a shoulder injury in time for the pre-tour Japan Test at Murrayfield on June 26, threw in the name of another Scot when asked about England tighthead Sinckler missing out.

‘Zander Fagerson has really come on and, from a penalty perspective, Scotland probably came out on top of all the teams during the Six Nations at scrum time; they scrummaged pretty well,’ added the Kiwi.

‘We feel like we’ve got it covered. Kyle is pretty unlucky but we feel the other guys can do a really good job for us.’

The inclusion of Exeter back row Sam Simmonds, who hasn’t been capped by England since 2018, demonstrates the breadth of opinions that can exist even within the professional coaching community.

Explaining what he sees that

Eddie Jones doesn’t, Gatland said: ‘He’s quick, we can run lots of variations — I see Exeter doing that, having him running almost like a back. He gives us some really good options. But, then again, you’re trying to get that balance right in the loose forwards.

‘With the loose forwards, particularly with Sam Simmonds and Taulupe Faletau, the two No8s, we looked at them being explosive and being able to carry with footwork.

‘Billy Vunipola probably isn’t quite there. I didn’t see from him in the Six Nations the same impact he had in the past, getting across the gain line and busting tackles.’

The lucky few who have made the cut will head into a potential conflict hotspot for the first holding camp of the summer, with Lions officials having booked the island of Jersey long before the British Navy were despatched to intervene in a fishing dispute.

‘I’m only concentrating on the rugby, I’ve no idea about what’s going on with the other stuff, the gunboats and stuff,’ said Gatland.

‘We’ve just got to make sure that, if we do go fishing, we don’t go out too far.’

All joking aside, the coaching staff are aware that taking a team on tour during a pandemic — regardless of exact location — will involve certain challenges.

‘We’re really conscious of being safe,’ said Gatland. ‘And the big challenge for us is being in the bubble in South Africa, then potentially having to be in quarantine when we come back.

‘If you look at the two-week camp before we go on tour, it could be up to ten weeks away from home and in a bubble.

‘The rugby side takes care of itself. It’s important for me that we think about the wellbeing and mental health of players.

‘The rugby is going to be the easy part. If we get the other stuff right, we’ve got a chance of performing on the field.’

on the tour. The pleasing thing for me is that, particularly in this Six Nations, those two wins (for Scotland) away to England and France put a lot of players into contention. ‘So it wasn’t about them (Townsend and Tandy) pushing the Scottish players. It was about us picking who we thought could do the job for us. ‘It was the closest Six Nations I’d seen, there were five teams all capable of beating each other. ‘I’ve got to make sure I get the balance right in picking the best players for the squad — not where they come from.’ Scotland captain Stuart Hogg and Six Nations Player of the Tournament Hamish Watson led the Caledonian contingent selected to take on the World Cup winners. It includes Finn Russell and Ali Price, South Africa-born winger Duhan van der Merwe and Gloucester centre Chris Harris, as well as props Zander Fagerson and Rory Sutherland. But there was disappointment for Jonny Gray and Jamie Ritchie. Wales’ Alun Wyn Jones is tour captain for Gatland, who also called up Exeter back row Sam Simmonds three years after his most recent England cap. The Kiwi, who omitted Ireland skipper Johnny Sexton from the squad completely, defended his decision to pick some players who had underperformed in 2021. ‘Some of those players, particularly the England players, would say they didn’t have the best Six Nations,’ said the ex-Wales coach. ‘But that doesn’t mean they become bad players overnight. You look at what they’ve achieved over the past couple of years, be that in the autumn or the Six Nations and World Cups — or winning in Europe, winning Premierships. ‘I’ve got to create an environment where some of these players can come in and get their form back, thrive and be successful.’