Cautious: Warren Gatland
British and Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland has said selecting a large group of English players will bring "other pressures."
England are the only unbeaten side in the Six Nations so far, but Gatland believes that selecting a large group will bring extra scrutiny from the media due to previous disagreements between countries and the events England went through at the Rugby World Cup.
"If they do well in the Six Nations, there will be a reasonable contingent of English players. But that brings a certain element of - how do I say it - other pressures that come with selecting a lot of English players," said Gatland to the Evening Standard.
"It becomes a much greater media focus from the English papers; potentially a negative focus from the Australian papers. And English players are targeted by other countries.
"[They are] not always the most popular with other countries because of the history. People like having a pop at them.
"We all know what happened with England at the World Cup and the circus that was created.
"I've just got to be aware of the possibilities that, if there are a number of English players on the tour, the same sort of things could be instigated, through stings through the media or set-ups trying to create controversy.
"These are young men filled up with a lot of testosterone and sometimes they need to go out and just unwind. But it's essential these players know what their boundaries are.
"The way I work, it's not a dictatorship, it's a consultation with the other coaches and senior players or the captain.
"You might say to players, 'Go out for a couple of hours and have a beer and maybe you're back in the hotel by one o'clock', particularly with night games."
Comments
ArmchairGeneral says...
What?! Crass ignorant prejudice. What an idiot. Does he really think the English press won't be following the tour regardless of how many go and they won't look for dirt on Welsh players too. how does nationality effect propensity to misbehave on tour?? This is the worst comment from a coach! Incredibly offensive actually to the likes of Robshaw and most of the English players who have not put a foot wrong. I can't believe as Lions coach he would say that! No British coach would say that. As Manu and Dylan were is a little trouble will he extend this judgement to pacific island folks like Falatau and Gatland too? Or just the England playing ones? Jeez this one is a shocker!! Going to enjoy the reactions
Posted 19:53 12th February 2013
risca30 says...
When will the english supporters realise that nobody rates your players.
Posted 19:36 12th February 2013
NHsaints says...
What the hell kind of a farce is this Warren?! English players have every right to be selected if they're playing well, the media isn't their problem, it's yours and your media team's problem. I think what he's essentially saying here is he wants a mostly Welsh side with odd inclusions of irish, scottish and english players so he can get away with a ridiculous selection, you can't seriously think that taking guys like Care, Tuilagi, Hartley and Haskell should be decided by how they handled themselves at a world cup nearly 2 years ago?! (not to say Haskell will make the Lions but you get my point).
Posted 19:27 12th February 2013
shoobydo says...
Calm down.
He's only saying England players get more attention from the press (which is true!)
During the world cup, he said he had sympathy for the England camp because minor incidents were being blown out of all proportion by the tabloid press.
Presumably he was letting the Welsh boys out for drink, but since the press weren't following them, nothing got reported.
Posted 19:12 12th February 2013
timmo says...
what!? this is going to be a disaster. get that shirt off Gatland you dont deserve it.
Posted 18:58 12th February 2013
Haldir says...
I really didn't have Gatland down as such a tit before... this is ridiculous. Just pick the best players - Aussie press would give you a hard time even if no English were picked. I worry that this is how he justifies picking any out of form Welsh/ etc players over the English.
Posted 18:51 12th February 2013
lawynd says...
The best players for the team tour. That's the bottom line. If Gatland can't handle the pressure then he shouldn't have accepted the job...is this paving the way for passing over a number of English players for selection?
Posted 18:47 12th February 2013
Ruck_It says...
An approach as outlined in Gatland's comments will only end in the demise of the Lions. The selection should be purely based on ability. The Lions tour will get plenty UK press coverage in spite of the size of the English contigent and the banter from the Aussie press is largely that - banter. If Gatland doesn't want to pick English players then that's fine by me as it means we will have a stronger side to take to Argentina and continue to build the team.
Posted 18:27 12th February 2013
Coshie78 says...
"[They are] not always the most popular with other countries because of the history. People like having a pop at them."
He can add himself to that list now.
Worrying as his job is to be impartial and pick the best players on performance.
Seems to lack the understanding of the Lions culture. You are not an Englishman, Welshmen, Scotsman or Irishmen on tour, you are a Lion.
Any criticism of a Lion regardless of their nationality should help galvanise the squad! The management should create this culture it has been integral to all successful Lions tours.
Also there is huge contingent of English fans spending fortunes to go and support the team as well as help fund it by buying all the merchandise.
He should consider them over the thoughts and actions of the insignificant Aussie press...
Different team, different coaches, different ethos....
If he is worried about the players being targeted on the pitch I suggest he watches Sunday's game again...
Ridiculous comments.... Disappointing to say the least....
Posted 17:59 12th February 2013
pentwynfarm says...
So what is he trying to say, that England players are less responsible and more of a liability than the other home nations' players? Half of those players from the World Cup are gone anyway. And excuse me, but plenty of Welsh players have had their share of drunken and violent antics.....Gavin Henson, Mike Phillips, Andy Powell, Ceri Sweeney to name a few.
I'm slightly concerned that a Lions coach is thinking like this. He should be concentrating on picking the best available players, not being influenced by how he thinks the UK and foreign press will react to his selections.
Will this be one of his ways of justifying what I think will be a predominantly Welsh squad?
Posted 17:31 12th February 2013
Frooschman says...
And another thing! Based on this I assume there's zero point in backing any of the English players for the captaincy? Even if Gatland is forced to pick Englishmen on form ... "If they do well in the Six Nations, there will be a reasonable contingent of English players". How very f-ing gracious of him! ... So anyone backing Robshaw at 6/5 favourite may as well just throw their money away?!
Posted 17:14 12th February 2013
Frooschman says...
This is bullsh*t. The Lions should be the best that England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales have to offer end of argument. These comments imply that a better English player could be left at home in favour of a lesser player from one of the other three countries and that's simply outrageous. I understand that you may want to make certain selections based on team fit, if you play a certain inside centre you may want to play a certain complimentary outside centre for example, but making those decisions based on nationality calls into question the entire point of the Lions.
Posted 16:40 12th February 2013