IF THE AUSTRALIANS are engaging in black ops to thwart the touring Lions’ bid to win their first series in 16 years, they could do with making things a little darker.

Head coach Warren Gatland’s press conference in Melbourne’s Hyatt Hotel suffered an unscheduled interruption yesterday.

Sure, the hosts will claim that the booming voice cutting across the Kiwi with:  ”Yeah, yeah, welcome, welcome. One, two, three, four, five…” before bursting into some melodic acoustic guitar riffs with another “yeah, yeah, yeah”  was an unknowing mic tester. But us conspiracy theorists will see through that and know it was a cynical ploy to put Gatty off his stride.

It certainly brought a smile to his face after what must have been a difficult day of team selection meetings.

Gatland’s first task in the aftermath of a fortunate first Test victory was to comb through the events that led to the Wallabies’ two first half tries from break-out star Israel Folau.

Any special plans to deal with him this time around?

“Yeah just tackle him.” Gatland responded dryly, before expanding:

“Go back and have a look at the clips and we’ve made a couple of defensive errors, Tom Croft’s made one [shooting out of the line] on the second try and George North has followed him in. That allowed him some space.

“On the first try from the tap as well, George needed to stay out on Israel. We’ve spoken to the players and what they need to do in certain situations, but there’s no doubt he’s got fantastic quality.

“That’s what’s brilliant about the game is when you see players of his quality on the field. I thought him and George North – along with the try Cuthbert scored – that’s what we want to see in sport. The best players out on the field and strutting their stuff. It’s brilliant to see a player of his class involved in union.”

He may not have been able to find a bad word to say about the league convert, but Gatland retained his most hearty praise for this Saturday’s match referee, Craig Joubert.

“I rate him really highly as a referee. I think we’ve got a good relationship. What I like about Craig Joubert is, he’s very personable and has a good feel for the game and he’s honest.” Gatland gushed. ”If he makes a mistake, he’s the first person to come back and hold is hands up and say it.”

Something tells us Chris Pollock was sticking to his guns when facing the coaches after blasting the Lions out of the first half breakdown battle. Hinting at a contrast, Gatland pointed to a helpful and informative meeting with Joubert to ‘gain clarity’ on some area he felt uneasy about in the Brisbane.

“That’s why I like dealing with him, because you’ve got a chance. You’re going out there with a guy with a human element to it. He’s going to try and do his best. He’s not going to get everything right, but if he does get a few things wrong he’s open and honest about it.”

“He’s gone through the game in fine detail and he’s pointed to us a few instances that he would have called difference. A couple more I just wanted clarity on.

“For example: the advantage in the first half where we’ve gone lateral [and Australia subsequently won a turnover and scored the opening try] I said, ‘in that situation would you have gone back for the penalty?’ He said ‘Yes, I probably would have’.”

Black ops are no match for good old-fashioned buttering up.

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This Israel Folau video is the perfect way to get you excited about the 2nd Lions test