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Warren Gatland praised the performance of son Bryn after the British and Irish Lions edged a 13-7 victory over New Zealand’s Provincial Barbarians on Saturday.
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Gatland Jr started at fly-half for the Barbarians, converting the Sam Anderson-Heather try that sent them in with an unexpected half-time lead.
The Lions recovered to rescue a win in their tour opener thanks to a second-half Anthony Watson try, but Warren Gatland was quick to give his boy some credit.
“It was special,” said the Lions coach of the experience. “I thought he played pretty well.
“He caused us a few problems, particularly with his kicking game.
“They came with some innovation, doing things a little bit differently, and that definitely put us under some pressure in that first half.”
As well as his pride at seeing his son go up against the Lions, Gatland also saw the benefit of having an insider in the opposition camp.
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“I just had a chat with him and he said defensively we came a lot harder in the second half,” he added.
“We spoke about that [at half-time] and improved that and he said he found that difficult in the second half, in terms of that pressure that we put on them.”
The Lions next face the Blues at Eden Park on Wednesday.
