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Gatland’s decision to axe O’Driscoll defies belief

4th July, 2013
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Italy's Mauro Bergamasco, left, is tackled by Ireland's Brian O'Driscoll in their Six Nations rugby union international match at Croke Park, Dublin, Ireland, Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
Roar Guru
4th July, 2013
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1680 Reads

Warren Gatland’s decision to drop Brian O’Driscoll is his stupidest decision to date so far this tour, and that’s really saying something.

Warren Gatland has picked 10 Welshmen in his starting line-up for what is turning out to be a particularly controversial Lions tour, and the decision to leave the second most-capped player in history out of the starting line-up, let alone the entire matchday 23, is a shocker.

There wasn’t even a spot on the bench for O’Driscoll as Gatland looks to reinstall his ‘Warrenball’ style of play by picking a fit-again Jamie Roberts to start and moving Jonathon Davies from inside to outside centre.

For those who don’t know, Warrenball relies on every player to be a backrow-style runner, except fullback and fly-half whose jobs are to kick goals and kick for territory.

It relies on advantage line dominance through big runners, and it is bereft of creativity with most phases being set up one off the ruck from halfback Mike Phillips.

British and Irish media and fans are split on the call, with some saying that it’s a tough choice that had to be made and others saying that while O’Driscoll has had a quiet series, it’s hard to play yourself into form when the ball doesn’t get past the fly-half.

Jonathon Davies hasn’t exactly been setting the tour alight either especially in defence where his four missed tackles to O’Driscoll’s one will have Adam Ashley-Cooper licking his lips.

Additionally, O’Driscoll plays the link role better than Davies by receiving the ball in midfield and passing it wider, so it’s safe to assume that if George North and Tommy Bowe want to do anything other than chase kicks they had better come inside looking for the ball.

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The 2009 Lions centre pairing of Roberts and O’Driscoll worked beautifully, and many Lions fans were hoping to finally see it in Sydney after the injury to Roberts robbed them of it in the first two Tests.

One thing that is certain is that the Lions will be very short of leadership in Sydney on Saturday night.

The Welsh lock Alun Wyn Jones has been named captain having only played one Test as captain for Wales versus Italy in 2009, and is considered the third-choice Welsh captain behind the injured duo of Sam Warburton and Gethin Jenkins.

He was known as a bit of a hot-head early in his career with Gatland publicly criticising the player after he received a yellow card for a trip at Twickenham in 2010. In the time he was off the field England scored 17 points on their way to a 30-17 victory.

Wyn Jones has been fantastic so far this series, and the captaincy could benefit his own game or adversely it could hinder it, but with O’Driscoll as captain you eliminate that risk factor.

Current Irish captain Jamie Heaslip has also been dropped in favour of the larger, direct-running Toby Faletau in what is a huge, traditional northern hemisphere-style backrow.

The Lions are now left with a team that has very limited natural leadership ability at the top level with Wyn Jones, halfback Mike Phillips and fly-half Jonny Sexton the only players in the 23 who exude these characteristics.

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When you compare this to the Wallabies leadership group of Horwill, Genia, Moore and Ashley-Cooper, the Wallabies have a clear advantage in this department.

What a boost the Lions would have got with Brian O’Driscoll, the best northern hemisphere player of his generation, giving the team talk before they ran out for the decider.

During O’Driscoll’s career, even when he has been out of form, he has had a knack of getting the best out of his players, coming up with big plays and making good decisions, particularly against Australia.

Aussie fans will remember his try to snatch a 20-all draw at Croke Park in 2009 with the last play of the game, as he glided untouched through a gap just like he has done so many times throughout his career.

Lions fans will be shuddering to think what will happen if their side are faced with the same decision that James Horwill was faced with last week.

Horwill made the decision to turn down the three points to go for a late scrum, and it paid off, but those decisions need to be made confidently and decisively otherwise doubt can start to creep in.

While nobody doubted that both Sean O’Brien and Toby Faletau have been missed and deserved a shot, I don’t think anyone saw that both would be in the starting line-up.

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Onto the bench comes Manu Tuilagi, another player under an injury cloud, who will be cover for Jamie Roberts should his hamstring not go the distance.

Mobile forwards Richie Gray and Justin Tipuric join Tuilagi on the new look bench and will come on late to provide extra mobility and workrate.

The final 20 minutes will be a huge concern to Gatland as it has been the period where Australia have dominated possession in the first two Tests, and with the tight backrow he’s selected for this Test he will want to be ahead on the scoreboard coming into the final period.

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