Though everyone should be talking about a dominant win against the Maori, Warren Gatland’s selection shockers have overshadowed a solid Lions’ performance.
The British and Irish Lions forward pack dismantled the Maori in Rotorua. They had 76 per cent territory, 68 per cent possession and did not lose a lineout or scrum all evening. Ultimately a 32-10 scoreline did not flatter and was a fair reflection of the game, particularly the second half.
But make no mistake, the Maori were a quality side and the likes of Peter O’Mahoney, Sean O’Brien and Jamie George deserved all the headlines. Instead, thanks to Warren Gatland and his coaching team, the goodwill produced by that performance has almost disappeared.
A storm is now raging in the British and Irish media as well as among most fair-minded rugby fans in the northern hemisphere.
The decision to select four Welshman to join the touring squad is an affront to the famous strip. It is demeaning to the very ethos of the British and Irish Lions concept.
Supposedly the Welshman were picked largely because they were close by and wouldn’t need to acclimatise to the time zone, yet that fails the most basic scrutiny. Scotland, who finished above Wales in the Six Nations tournament, were busy beating Australia in Sydney on Saturday, which is hardly a long-haul flight from Auckland.
England, who have won the past two Six Nations quite convincingly and also beat Argentina with effectively a third XV last weekend, would happily have released players seven days ago to assist with jet lag. Players like Chris Robshaw and Joe Launchbury must be absolutely filthy.
As Eddie Jones said, “When you become a Lion you are remembered for life. My only comment would be, I would like to see it picked on merit rather than geographical proximity.”
Hardly rocket science. To pick any Lion, replacement or not, on the basis of anything other than merit is a disgrace.
It was also supremely arrogant for Gatland to pull such a shocker in circumstances where he has been widely criticised for a perceived Welsh bias. He made Sam Warburton, a fine player with very little playing time over the past two months, tour captain.
Two other Welshman were selected as match day captains before the coaching staff wisely awarded Peter O’Mahoney the honour against the Maori.
Rob Howley, the Lions backs coach who also happens to be Welsh, has been widely ridiculed and criticised for his lack of imagination and his references to ‘rugby chaos’.
Brian Moore, the influential English rugby commentator and ex-international, has suggested all travelling supporters should take their boots in case a call up due to close proximity occurs.
Austin Healey, of 2001 Lions ilk, has put forward Welsh singer Charlotte Church as next on the list now. Her picture has appeared, complete with face swap, in a Lions jumper.
What effect all the furore will have on the players and squad is anyone’s guess, but I doubt it will be positive. There must be many Lions scratching their heads and privately discussing the treatment of their English, Irish and Scottish mates.
Gatland really has lost the plot – from a selection standpoint at least – and we should all be hoping he finds it again quickly before what is shaping as a very interesting tour is tarnished.
The performance against the Maori was an excellent one and showed the difference between the mid-week and Test strength Lions side. Doubts remain about whether the Lions can ‘strangle’ the All Blacks in the same manner that they did against the Crusaders and Maori, but I am sure the All Blacks took notice of those performances.
Key players such as Kruis, O’Brien, Sexton and Te’o all grew into the game and got valuable match time under their belts. Peter O’Mahoney is the revelation of the tour so far and could well be named captain for the first Test.
Or at least he should be – but of course, he isn’t Welsh.
Howard Jones
Guest
I think it is England who could do with Charlotte Church in their line up. Their singing before the game against Argentina was woeful. Gatland has a strong subs bench but maybe the Team selection looks flawed. Halfpenny has been kicking all his penalties, while Williams has been giving away penalties and collecting yellow cards. Is Farrrell fully fit, we must hope so? And why hasn't Otoje been picked? Perhaps Gatland wants to hold back his strongest team for the last two tests. The major Lions selection problem was the selection of Gatland in the first place. From a long suffering Welsh supporter who knows what to expect from Gatls He likes to pull a few tricks and surprises off the field, but once his teams start playing its all so predictable.
Tiger
Guest
Funny that, your response suggest that my post was not hysterical to you at all, not in the slightest. In fact it's had the opposite effect. I may not be bright or lack basic comprehension skills, but remarks stated in your original post were offensive and inappropriate (even if I'm the only one who felt so). It's a shame you can't see that. I hope the AB's perform Kapo O Pago. God I love the Haka! Goodbye.
Neil Back
Roar Rookie
It's a shame you're not bright enough to understand it's still up because it's not offensive - unless you're you. And it's also a shame you're not bright enough to understand your 'truth hurts' comment is also ridiculous because I wasn't the one who took your post down or complained about it, as I told you if only you could comprehend what is written - clearly not a strong point. Trust me, I would have happily left your post up. It was hysterical - in every sense of the word. Goodbye.
Tiger
Guest
Oh my, truth hurts huh? Sad thing is, you don't even realize how offensive your comment is, and now you're the one carrying on like a "pork chop"! Our responses may have gotten taken down, but your offensive remark is still up, which was the thing that kicked off this spat in the first place, go figure. Did you catch the Chiefs/Lions game? My favorite part was the Haka.
Neil Back
Roar Rookie
Because you carried on like a pork chop taking completely unwarranted massive offense. I reckon when I replied referring to you as sounding like a re*l*gi*ous z*eal*ot I got moderated and we were both taken down. See, I'm only here to help.
Tiger
Guest
Why was my comment removed from this thread?
taylorman
Roar Guru
In Browns case? He would jump at the chance at flying here at this point in the tour to play bench for the second stringers? After his outburst at Gatland for not being selected intitially? You're dreaming.
Neil Back
Roar Rookie
Unfortunately he can think he's doing exactly that while making poor selection decisions, showing a national bias and undermining ethics. Not mutually exclusive.
mania
Guest
clive woodward says it best "You do not have to agree with every decision Gatland makes but never doubt for one second that everything he does is with the sole purpose of hopefully enabling the Lions to win the test series."
mzilikazi
Guest
I do too...have done all my life....indeed have often supported them...and will do this time around. For such a tiny country and population, NZ is remarkable, and that is just starting with rugby.....lots more in many spheres.
adastra32
Guest
Mostly there for player analysis, although AWJ was a highly controversial selection to begin with (as in he's probably 5/6th best lock at best) and Faletau didn't really have a 6N due to injury.
adastra32
Guest
FYI they don't. In fact, they aren't even remotely similar. However, there are one or two more like him - not selected.
taylorman
Roar Guru
Well that's actually a good point Neil, I wouldn't mind knowing what percentage of the week went into team training as opposed to the haka, though Maori are usually going to always rely on their natural talents to bring them through, where here a full team approach was required, and was missing.
Henry Honey Balls
Guest
So you reckon Cory hill is a better player than Jonny Gray? In what planet is Cory Hills selection over Gray justified? Both players are currently near NZ. Even Richie Gray is a much better player.
Henry Honey Balls
Guest
Even if you accept the proximity argument from Gatland how can he possibly justify selecting Cory Hill over Scotland's Jonny Gray. Gray was one of the better locks in the six nations with one of the highest tackle counts. Hill is a third choice player for Wales. This one is an absolute head scratcher. He barely has 6 caps as a sub for Wales. Where is the logic in this? Blatant favouritism to fairly average Welsh players. Its bad enough that Halfpenny looks set to start in the test matches when more on form players like Brown, Kearney or Zebo are left out.
taylorman
Roar Guru
I wasn't impressed with much jemainok, though I wasn't expecting a lot either. For me there's a huge difference between playing against a long standing franchise, or the ABs, and a scratch side, especially when this Lions side is probably second only to the ABs, probably better than the Wallabies, Boks, England or anyone else, and who knows, according to some better than the ABs. They've had four matches together, at least one as a unit. The MAB's could have done with one beforehand as some are saying. But it was a match where nothing went right for them. Some odd selections, plenty of handling errors and a ruthlessly efficient opposition, who starved them all night. Defensively you could say they were ok but I think it's also a NH trait to be enormously inefficient with the amount of territory and possession they get. ABs with the same as the Lions would have put at least six or seven tries on them, probably more.
Jonathan
Roar Rookie
I admire Gatland for all the flack he is taking. Whilst he is in overall charge of the tour the reality is that he is not making these decisions in isolation. He has a coaching team around him that he will be making the decisions with, yet no one talks about that. They don't blame Steve Borthwick (forward coach) for picking Dacey or Hill, they always go for Gatland. You'd think he's a dictator the way he is vilified in the press. It would be so hard to be in his situation, trying to run a tour whilst being criticised for every decision he makes by everyone else who wants to over analyse and nitpick. No doubt he has made mistakes but overall I think it's been a pretty successful tour so far. Exciting rugby has been played and the Lions have won the two games they targeted as most important. Maybe after the tour has finished we can reassess, hearing from the staff and players what the atmosphere was like. So far I've only heard positives from inside the Lions camp, but I'm happy to be corrected in the future.
Ali
Guest
Rubbish. The Lions shirt is the pinnacle and I can't imagine any player refusing it. I'm sure if any English players were asked they'd have jumped at the chance irrelevant of time zones or flight times. While geography does play a part, to be a Lion the player must deserve to be there. Of the players brought up by Gatland only Finn Russell and Gareth Davies are there on merit as the next obvious player to be called up in their position. While Launchbury may have been robbed, if you take the distance argument into account the fact that the fifth or six string welsh lock has been selected instead of Jonny Gray is crazy.
Neil Back
Roar Rookie
Actually the opposite CUW. Brown had a mini spray over the fact that Gatland hadn't made any contact with him at all after missing selection re standby status. Gatland then went on to state words to the effect he didn't intend announcing any stand by players - which he never has to my knowledge. I suspect now because he always knew he might well pull this trick with 'geographical proximity' but didn't want to start the controversy early.
Derm
Roar Guru
Jermainok There were 6 players brought in - 2 from Scotland and 4 from Wales.