So, how’s he going to do it? How’s Warren Gatland planning to win the Lions Test Series in Australia?
Well, first, lets assume that no one gets to lead the Lions without an extensive and intimate knowledge of the game, a comprehensive knowledge of the player selection pool and a comprehensive knowledge of the opponents and the tour locale.
You need huge coaching experience and must be a person who commands the respect of the squad.
After that, a variety of methods may or may not be applicable.
The Sir Graham Henry approach
Professionalism was kind of new for SGH. The players hated training too much, some allowed themselves to be manipulated by their own press. More than that, they got injured (e.g. Richard Hill’s unfortunate collision with an elbow).
That really took its toll.
By the third Test, even Super Jonny W couldn’t perform too well.
The Lions lost 2-1 in Australia. First time ever.
It was bad luck, really as the last Test could have gone either way. Australia stayed cool after losing the first Test and contrived a way of winning. Lions players were still being disciplined months later for ‘betrayal’.
However, I’m sure the hurt from this helped motivate the England section to their 2003 glory.
SGH recommended that the Lions keep the squad light in future and play fixtures as one XV.
Note that SGH didn’t get his knighthood for leading the Lions.
The Sir Clive Woodward approach
If Sir Clive hadn’t been selected to lead the Lions, there would have been an outcry. By 2005, he was elevated to the status of deity in many people’s eyes, a lot of them players, a lot of them press, a lot of them rugby officials.
Understandably, ‘SCW’ was so convinced of his own judgement that he rejected any well-intentioned objective advice.
SCW ignored Sir Graham’s advice for a small squad and picked a huge squad requiring huge backroom staff.
Most of the squad were, again understandably, his old muckers from the 2003 World Cup win. But, they were probably a bit old, missing a bit of hunger, missing a bit of motivation.
The Kiwis, not having won a Rugby World Cup themselves for a while, had it in for them as soon as they landed.
Bad luck with injuries (e.g. Brian O’Driscoll’s unfortunate accidental spearing minutes into the Test series), poor and partisan first XV selection and the perceived spin of Alastair Campbell aggravating local and travelling press alike all helped the tour down the rocky road to a sticky end.
Sir Clive tried to stay smug, but the whole thing was a shambles and he doesn’t go in for clear cut win or lose events any more. The fact was that the Shaky Isles were so up for it, their Brownies could have put a competitive XV.
Note that SCW didn’t get his knighthood for leading the Lions.
The Sir Ian McGeechan approach
‘Geech’, if I may be so bold as to call him Geech, led the Lions four times, played on two tours and coached the second XV under Sir Clive.
Chances are, he’s got a good idea about how to do it.
Geech likes a ‘touring squad’ – clubbable blokes who get on together, knuckle down and get their cards on the table in the team-talk not in the newspapers.
He likes lieutenants who are autonomous but loyal.
He picks officers who know what they’re doing and are also clubbable touring-types.
Geech likes to get the rule on the table early on, saying don’t mess me about and I won’t mess you about.
Seems fair. Then, he likes to keep the whole thing reasonably informal, and he’ll try to have fun through hard work, laughs through laudable enterprise.
He’ll try to protect the players from themselves, their mates, the press and the opposition too.
He does it like he’s reading from a management manual. He wants to treat everyone as an individual, then get everyone working for a common purpose.
He keeps it simple. He laughs off the mind games. He preps the team the way he wants it, but that’s likely to be done lightly, with subtlety.
It doesn’t always work, but it does work sometimes. Which is a start.
Note that SIM probably did get his knighthood for leading the Lions.
The Warren Gatland approach
Gatland will know all this. Not only that, he’s been off studying how to do it for a year or more now. He passed the Wales mantle over to Rob Howley ages ago and has been meticulously planning his campaign.
He’s got his trusted officer cadre in place, including Howley, and involved them in the squad selection process. So, they’re bought in. Sounds like he’s got his reserves lined up, too. And I’m sure he’ll have talked to Geech at length.
But it’s still so different from any other Lions tour before. So, he’ll be taking nothing for granted.
His best chance of winning is to keep it simple. Easy to prep. Easy to interchange players. Easy to execute. Easy to sell with conviction to the players to make them believe it’ll work.
I imagine that the team he puts out versus the Barbarians in Hong Kong will be the prototype Lions. They’ll play the way Gatland wants them set up, they’ll use the core of the calls they’ll use against Australia and they’ll get the hang of each other’s style there.
The game will be analysed a dozen different ways. The game DVD will be worn thin with use.
Then, it’ll be sub-divided, tailored into individual packages and absorbed by the time the Lions land in Perth. Flight time will be used to study, not to break the can-of-beer record.
I’m sure that Warren Gatland will be hoping that he gets his knighthood for leading the Lions.
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