Murray Kinsella reports from Edinburgh
THE LIONS ATTEMPTED to maintain the illusion of surprise right up until the final moment, before Warren Gatland appeared from whichever office he’d been hidden away in as 2017 tour manager John Spencer finally confirmed his appointment.
Spencer, Tom Grace and John Feehan lauded the Lions’ history and stressed how exciting the tour of New Zealand next year is, then Gatland took his place on stage alongside the three wise men.
Gatland’s appointment has been explicitly flagged for some months, with a photo of him in Lions gear taken yesterday circulating widely and somewhat humorously on social media to ensure that nobody was going to be shocked.
“The secret is out,” produced a hearty laugh all round this afternoon.
Gatland put on an enthusiastic and confident display thereafter, rejecting the idea that the 10-game itinerary in New Zealand will be overly demanding, pointing to the Lions’ possible strengths and calling on players to prove themselves in the coming months.
He may not be a popular choice in some quarters, but the Kiwi is relishing this challenge.
Gatland has stepped back from his Wales role with immediate effect, Rob Howley taking his place, and plans to announce his assistant Lions coaches on 7 December. A touring party will be confirmed in April of next year.
Lions chairman Grace stated that Gatland had “interviewed extraordinarily well” in July, whereafter CEO Feehan offered him the job.
Perhaps my experiences of learning from the 2009 and 2013 tours,” said Gatland when asked what he had focused on in that convincing interview.
“Probably just understanding a little bit about New Zealand as well, understanding the culture. A lot of the players, and particularly those going to New Zealand for the first time, have got to understand certain challenges.”
Gatland has the job now and an extremely difficult job it will be. The consensus away from the stage in Edinburgh was that the Lions haven’t got a genuine hope of upsetting the already-brilliant and ever-improving All Blacks.
Has any New Zealand side ever been this far ahead of the chasing pack, Warren? A brief pause, a smile, possibly memories of being whitewashed with Wales in June, and then his honest answer.
“Probably not at the moment. I think the way they play, in terms of some pretty exciting rugby, some pretty direct rugby – they’re playing a little bit differently to other teams.
“Defensively, they look like they’re changing as well. You look at the teams coming a lot quicker off their line, like in Super Rugby the Hurricanes started defending that way. Other teams have started being much more aggressive in the way they’re defending too.
“They’ve played in a very attacking formation and stay pretty square, so when they do get in behind you they cause a lot of problems with their support. Their transitions from defence to attack are another area of the game where they stand apart.
“Wales were possibly exposed a little bit in New Zealand, there was a little bit of a lack of pace in certain areas and going to New Zealand, there won’t be any lack of pace in a Lions team that we select.
“You look at the All Blacks – when they’re in close games, they still play the numbers and they’re still a little bit conservative. That’s when they’re potentially the most vulnerable.
“But when they get 15 or 20 points ahead of you, that’s when the shackles come off and you’re in a world of pain.
“We know it’s going to be tough, but we can go there with a huge amount of confidence that we can put together a hugely strong Lions team from the four nations, a team that’s going to be hugely competitive and good enough to win.”
Gatland named 37 players in his initial squad for the 2013 tour of Australia and indicated that he will bring a similar number this time around, as he looks to balance between covering possible injuries and ensuring every player feels part of the group.
“The important thing about the Lions is to try and get things right off the field,” said Gatland.
“Sometimes having a night out together does really gel or bond a team together, but one of the things that I learned from 2013, was to say to the whole squad, ‘You will get a start in the first three games.’
“If a player knows he’s going to start in one of those first three games, not come off the bench, then he’s going to feel like he’s in the shop window and has a chance to be selected for the first Test.”
Gatland also confirmed that previous Lions experiences may be decisive when there are narrow selection decisions for the final touring squad.
“The bottom line is that you’ve got to be playing well,” said the former Ireland coach. “You’ve got to be playing well enough and if it comes to a 50/50 selection call, someone who’s been on a previous tour and is going well, that may count.”
Regarding his Lions assistant coaches, Gatland said they will be free to continue in their full-time roles with national or club sides for the entire season. He is aiming for “some continuity and some fresh voices” in his support staff.
The Lions boss is looking forward to visiting the national set-ups of England, Scotland, Ireland and his own Wales in the coming months to observe coaches and players in their day-to-day environments.
Gatland may not be a widely popular appointment, but he brought energy and confidence to his first appearance in a Lions blazer this season.
He will need to maintain those attributes – and add many, many more – if the Lions are to have any chance next summer.
“It’s a really tough country to go and tour,” said Gatland with another smile. “I didn’t learn that until I left there. As a Kiwi playing provincial rugby and travelling around the country, you don’t realise how hard it is to come from abroad and tour New Zealand.”
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Jack O’Donohue may as well go to France, along with Carty. What is Lowe doing in there still?
@Richard James: whatever about the other 2 O’Donoghue needs to oust O’Mahony at 6 for Munster if he wants to get back into the Irish fold. Unlucky man out for me would be Paul Boyle in that backrow.
@Cian O’Toole: he is now a better player than POM in my eyes, but POM brings a X-factor like few can. POM is also lucky to be there but he keeps doing the extraordinary bits.
@Richard James: What is X factor!? He’s either a better player for the team or he isn’t. I actually think he is better than O’Mahony, or certainly would be if he wasn’t being shoehorned into playing 7 all the time which he simply isn’t. Pity as I think he could be a very good 6.
@Richard James: i believe the primary reason Carty turned down Clermont was for a shot at Ireland. (Same with Marmion and Saracens). Sure that’s probably that.
@Richard James: Lowe is a shocking call… rees-zammit tearing down the wing at Lowe is a try 10 times outta 10
@Cathal Carr: do you honestly believe either of those 2 would be first choice at either of those clubs? Get more money to sit on the bench or stay and play at home?
@Chris Mc: I do. Because Mark McCall confirmed as such in Marmion’s case, when Aled Davies was announced a few months after.
Give me Kevin Maggs and 14 Dricos
@Sam Murray: the lineouts might be a potential weakness
Dan Sheehan is a serious underdog. The lads a beast and seriously quick.
I’m surprised the42 hasn’t mentioned that the urc refs review has come down in favour of cloete’s try the other day and reckon that beirne was onside after all. Like a lot of Irish media outlets they were very quick to back Andy friends outburst and join in the kicking of Busby and the tmo when even at the time it looked an incredibly tight call. The hypocrisy around slating rassie for anti-ref opinions and lauding friend sticks out to me
@Tim Magner: they are referring it to World Rugby as they aren’t certain. So maybe hold fire there. The statement read as an attempt to find some way to justify the decision. But to me the laws are clear. A player who is in front of the kicker must retreat to either behind the kicker or behind a player who was onside when the ball was kicked. Beirne very clearly did neither of those things. This “the only part of his body that was touching the ground when the ball was kicked” guff is simply that. If a player tried that on try line defence do you think it would be allowed? Of course not.
@John Molloy: it’s funny cos the whole gist of it after the game was that he was a mile offside
@Tim Magner: it wasn’t reviewed that is the point but Connachts disallowed try was for 2 minutes. It’s called consistency and fairness that’s all anybody wants.
@bullfrogblues: precisely, it’s the inconsistencies that are peeing off Friend and what he actually complained about. And Connacht historically have borne the brunt, and especially so in Interpro’s…
@Tim Magner: Outburst you say?, Hahaha, good one. Friendy is probably the quietest spoken bloke in Rugby, totally un-Australian. The reason the officials were rigthly criticised was they didn’t even review what you admit was at least an obviously very tight call..
@Sea__Point: friend said nothing about anyone reviewing anything. He’s quoted on this site as saying ‘to me, that try and the missed offside, that’s inexcusable’
@Tim Magner: tim the urc backing its officials is one thing but do you in all honestly believe he was onside?
@Chris Mc: I really have no idea, it’s incredibly tight & could have gone either way. The fact the ref gave onfield try negates a lot of the controversy for me. There’s definitely not enough there for a tmo to get him to reverse his decision
@Tim Magner: Yup, he was in-line, doesn’t matter no one wants to hear it. Connacht missed a golden opportunity with Munster offering it to them on a plate. They should be mad at themselves.
The thing we keep seeing is we are not looking at the next world Cup, we are looking at the here and now. As soon as the world Cup is over New Zealand looks at the squad and age profile and starts building, we keep picking players who are hanging on because of what they did in the past instead of bringing through the next players for this and the next world cup
NO.
BOX.
KICKING.