THE RUMOURS OF a surprise before yesterday’s announcement of the Lions assistant coaches proved to be nothing more than that.
Andy Farrell, Steve Borthwick and Rob Howley – as expected for some time now.
Nonetheless, there is more to come in this department, with Gatland confirming that he will look to add another attack coach alongside Howley, as well as one or two other specialist coaches.
Ben Ryan, who guided Fiji to an Olympic Sevens gold medal earlier this year is one name that has done the rounds in terms of that second attack coach position, but Gatland ended that speculation.
“Not at the moment, no,” said the Lions head coach when asked if Ryan was in the frame. “I am definitely looking for someone who is involved in the 15s game.”
Gatland spoke to Joe Schmidt and Gregor Townsend about the role, but both men confirmed their commitment to their national team roles in June.
However, the Lions head coach does now have a new target in mind.
“I’ve identified someone I want to get,” said Gatland, without revealing anything further.
We await the appointment with interest.
Gatland claimed to be unsure whether he will appoint a scrum coach for the tour, although it would be a major surprise if he doesn’t. Ireland’s Greg Feek, a former All Black, is likely to be among the candidates and is available to the Lions.
While the coaching ticket is still to be finalised, the playing squad is even more up for debate in the coming months.
Gatland said he and his new assistant coaches have whittled the candidates down to a group of around 50 players after the November Tests, revealing that some of those are not currently involved with the four nations.
“We went through the squads yesterday and there were two or three players at the moment who aren’t involved in national squads. Potentially players in France, though the challenge there is release.”
That would appear to put men like Nick Abendanon and Steffon Armitage into the frame, although they will naturally have to perform wonders to convince Gatland and co. of their worth on the Lions tour.
Test rugby is the biggest opportunity for players to impress, meaning the November series was key for Gatland and his coaches as they begin to narrow the possibilities down.
The recent Tests also provided Gatland with evidence that the All Blacks are not unbeatable, with Ireland ending their winning streak in Chicago.
“They showed a human side – when they are put under pressure they make mistakes,” said Gatland. “That was the Chicago game, then the All Blacks turned up to Dublin and they showed why they are the best team in the world.”
Asked where the Lions have an advantage over the Kiwis at the moment, Gatland pointed out that the likes of Beauden Barrett are not faultless off the tee.
“Probably the biggest thing that we are going to have over an All Black team is we have three or four guys that are going to be better goal kickers. At the moment that is one area.
“If the Lions series comes down to goal kicking, you question them – sometimes they can be 100%, sometimes 50%. We have guys who are capable of regularly kicking over 90%. That is pretty encouraging.”
Key to stopping the All Blacks will be Ireland defence coach Farrell, who will carry out the same role for the Lions next summer.
Ireland head coach Schmidt previously joked about Farrell being able to keep an eye on the Ireland players in Lions camp, but it is indeed one advantage to the national team in having their defence coach involved.
Farrell expressed his excitement to take up the same position he occupied in 2013.
After England’s pool-stage World Cup exit last year, there would have been some doubt about Farrell earning another Lions appointment but he has rebuilt his reputation swiftly with Ireland.
“If you try and put in perspective, everyone says that after disappointment you learn a hell of a lot from that, but you do through victories as well,” said Farrell when asked about the last year of his career.
“On a day-to-day basis, everyone talks about experience and it does matter, through what you’ve been through and what you’re going to go through.
“At the start of the year I had a bit of time to reflect, which was good. The World Cup is a gruelling schedule within itself anyway so to have some time to reflect and have a bit of a rest and look at the rugby that was being playing in the Six Nations was good, just to take a step back.
“Then to start up with Ireland in April was a fantastic opportunity for me and to be able to go around the provinces and see how that works, to get to know the players that I’d just watched on TV and didn’t quite know, I knew some of them from the Lions tour in 2013.
“But the tour of South Africa was fantastic for me. There were a few key injuries for the tour for us and we took players that, never mind hadn’t been to South Africa, but hadn’t played international rugby before.
“So that was fantastic for me to understand the ins and outs of Irish rugby and to get the win in the first Test was pretty special. So you’re finding out not just about yourself but about the players you’re working with as well.
“I said at the start with Ireland in April, what a year to come into the job. It really doesn’t get more exciting or more challenging than a three-Test series in South Africa and then playing New Zealand twice and Australia along with Canada.
“It’s the type of year I needed.”
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