Lions "amateur" selection

Arthur Porritt has a special place in New Zealand sporting history having won the country’s first Olympic medal, grabbing bronze in the 100m race in 1924 in Paris made famous by the Oscar winning film Chariots of Fire. That was a wonderfully amateur era for sport with only four New Zealander’s chosen, due to financial constraints, and Porritt, who was studying at Oxford University, made captain and manager of the small team. The fact he only had to pop over the Channel was a major plus for all concerned.

That was an early example of how “geographical proximity” became a very important factor in sport and why Warren Gatland’s decision to pick four Welsh players who happen to be in New Zealand plus two Scots who are just over the Tasman to supplement his tour party is merely a continuation of that selection protocol.

However, New Zealand’s selection process in 1924 was open and transparent something that Gatland did not achieve this weekend and why he is copping so much flak from former Lions greats from all eras. Patently, he had planned to do this for some time and the fact he would have needed the green light from the hosts meant it would never stay a secret. That is why Steve Hansen was flagging this up last week.

That leaves the question; Why on earth didn’t Gatland head off the current storm of negative publicity a week out from the first test by coming clean with his ludicrous plan before the tour even started?

On any level Gatland’s decision to bolster his playing group by calling up Gareth Davies, Cory Hill, Kristian Dacey and Tomas Francis of Wales who played in Auckland on Friday night and Finn Russell and Allan Dell who helped Scotland beat Australia in Sydney is controversial. Russell and Davies would have been close to making the original tour party with Francis at least on the radar. But Hill, Dacey and Dell?

Gatland’s defence just does not stand up to scrutiny: “Does it devalue the shirt? You’re only a Lion when you get on the field and there’s a few of those players that were probably unlucky not to potentially be in contention in the first place.”

Is he kidding? Corey, Hill and Dell being in contention ahead of the likes of Dylan Hartley, Joe Launchbury, Fraser Brown Jonny Gray and Cian Healey?

Gatland is banking on his first choice players winning the test series to allow him to bask in the glory of a second success Lions series triumph for the former Waikato hooker and just like the Brian O’Driscoll furore in 2013, all that flak will end if victory is achieved.

He had the last laugh in 2013 – will he be smiling after that third test?