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Warren Gatland's 'calamitous error' according to ex-Lions tour manager

(Photo by Ian Rutherford/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Former British & Irish Lions tour manager Donal Lenihan has said that omitting Liam Williams was a calamitous mistake on the part of head coach Warren Gatland.

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The Lions fell to a heavy 27 – 9 defeat to the Springboks in Cape Town in the second Test and it’s now very much advantage South Africa heading into the third.

After dominating the aerial battle a week earlier, the Lions seeming inability to field high balls cost the side dear in the second half of the second Test, with Gatland’s back three selection coming in for heavy criticism over the weekend.

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Lenihan, writing in the Irish Examiner, wants a major overhaul of the back line. The 61-year-old, who toured as a Lion in 1983 and 1989, says that the back three selection of Stuart Hogg, Duhan Van Der Merwe and Anthony Watson were ‘badly’ exposed by the Springboks kicking tactics and that leaving Williams out entirely was a huge error.

The former Ireland second row has also called for mercurial Scottish flyhalf Finn Russell to be brought back into the matchday mix.

“Stuart Hogg and Duhan van der Merwe were badly exposed with the usually reliable Anthony Watson also suffering the jitters.”

Williams, dubbed the Bomb Defuser for his aerial prowess, was a surprise omission from the 23, having been a pre-tour favourite to take the Lions’ 15 jersey.

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“If Gatland got away with the decision to omit Liam Williams from the starting side in the first test, he paid a big price for it this time round. The fact that he wasn’t even on the bench to shore things up was a calamitous error.

“In addition to Williams, a proven finisher of the quality of Josh Adams has to come back into the equation.

“To facilitate that, the midfield also needs tweaking with a shift of Robbie Henshaw to outside centre with Bundee Aki or Owen Farrell coming into the equation inside him.

Finn Russell
Finn Russell /PA
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Lenihan also wants Finn Russell to be involved, injuries notwithstanding.

“If Finn Russell is fit, his capacity to add a bit of creativity off the bench must also come under consideration. Otherwise, what was the point in selecting him in the first place?”

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Hellhound 51 minutes ago
South Africa player ratings | 2024 Autumn Nations Series

There is this thing going around against Siya Kolisi where they don't want him to be known as the best national captain ever, so they strike him down in ratings permanently whenever they can. They want McCaw and reckons he is the best captain ever. I disagree.


Just like they refuse to see SA as the best team and some have even said that should the Boks win a third WC in a row, they will still not be the best team ever. Even if they win every game between now and the WC. That is some serious hate coming SA's way.


Everyone forget how the McCaw AB's intimidated refs, was always on the wrong side, played on the ground etc. Things they would never have gotten away with today. They may have a better win ratio, but SA build depth, not caring about rank inbetween WC's until this year.


They weren't as bad inbetween as people claim, because non e of their losses was big ones and they almost never faced the strongest Bok team outside of the WC, allowing countries like France and Ireland to rise to the top unopposed.


Rassie is still at it, building more depth, getting more young stars into the fold. By the time he leaves (I hope never) he will leave a very strong Bok side for the next 15- 20 years. Not everyone will play for 20 years, but each year Rassie acknowledge the young stars and get them involved and ready for international rugby.


Not everyone will make it to the WC, but those 51/52 players will compete for those spots for the WC. They will deliver their best. The future of the Boks is in very safe hands. The only thing that bothers me is Rassie's health. If he can overcome it, rugby looks dark for the rest of the rugby world. He is already the greatest coach in WR history. By the time he retires, he will be the biggest legend any sport has ever seen

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J
JW 1 hour ago
'They smelt it': Scott Robertson says Italy sensed All Blacks' vulnerability

No where to be seen OB!


The crosses for me for the year where (from memory);


This was a really hard one to nail down as the first sign of a problem, now that I've asked myself to think about it. I'd say it all started with his decision to not back form and fit players after all the injuries, and/or him picking players for the future, rather ones that could play right now.


First he doesn't replace Perofeta straight away (goes on for months in the team) after injury against England, second he falls back to Beauden Barrett to cover at fullback against Fiji, then he drops Narawa the obvious choice to have started, then he brings in Jordan too soon. That Barret selection (and to a lesser extent Bell's) set the tone for the year.


Then he didn't get the side up for Argentina. They were blown away and didn't look like they expected a fight and were well beaten despite the scoreline in my opinion. Worst performance of the year in the forth game and..


Basically the same problems were persistent, or even exaggerated, after that with the players he did select not given much of an opportunity, with this year having the most number of unused subs I can remember since the amateur days.


What I think I started to realise early on was that he didn't back himself and his team. I think he prepared the players well, don't get me wrong, but I'll credit him with making a conscious choice in tempering his ambition and instead choosing cohesion and to respect (the idea of it being important in himself and his players) experience first and foremost (after two tight games and that 4th game loss). I think he chose wrong in deciding not to be, and back, himself. Hard criticism.


And it played out by preferring Beauden to Dmac on the EOYT (though that may have been a planned move).


I hope I'm right, because going through all the little things of the season and coming up with these bullets, I've got to wonder when I say his last fault is one we have seen at the Crusaders, playing his best players into the ground. What I'm really scared of now is that not wanting a bit of freshness in this last game could be linked with all these other crosses that I want to put down to simple confidence issues. But are they really a sign that he just lacks vision?


Now, that's not to say I haven't seen a lot of positives as well, I just think that for the ABs to go where they want to go he has to fix these crosses. Just have difficult that will be is the question.

27 Go to comments
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