Warren Gatland was finally and formally unveiled as the British and Irish Lions coach again in Edinburgh on Tuesday afternoon for next year's daunting little jaunt to New Zealand. The unveiling was presented with the usual fanfare - which is fair enough, as little else about this expedition currently assumes the status of a good news story.
The former All Blacks hooker thus emulates Ian McGeechan as the only man to coach the Lions on back-to-back tours, having guided the Lions to a 2-1 series win in Australia in 2013.
As he was also assistant to McGeechan in the 2-1 series defeat to South Africa four years previously, Gatland is importantly well versed in the Lions’ ethos, and in understanding how to assemble a huge playing and back-up squad from four different countries at short notice – in this case ridiculously short notice.
Once Joe Schmidt followed Eddie Jones in ruling himself out of consideration for the role of Lions' head coach for this assignment last May, Gatland really was the stand-out contender. Indeed, only Vern Cotter's candidature ensured there was a competitive interview process.
Gatland is well qualified, to put it mildly. Although a one-time Waikato and All Blacks hooker, he is much more a northern than southern hemisphere coach, and specifically British and Irish. Since cutting his teeth as a coach with Galwegians in 1989, he has spent 23 of the intervening 27 years coaching in the UK and Ireland, with Galwegians, Connacht, Ireland, Wasps and Wales, as well as his two stints with the Lions.
Sabbatical
Wasps won three Premierships, a Heineken Cup and a Challenge Cup under his watch and since he took over Wales in 2007 they have won two Grand Slams (2008 and 2012) as well as the Six Nations title in 2013 (when, as presumably will be the case now, Rob Howley took over in Gatland's 10-month sabbatical as Lions coach). They also came within a point of reaching the 2011 World Cup final.
As with any player who achieves the honour of Lions’ selection, being their head coach is a hard one to turn down, but this is arguably the most daunting Lions’ assignment in history, and certainly of the professional era.
The All Blacks have seamlessly withstood the retirements of Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Ma’a Nonu, Conrad Smith et al judging by their 3-0 whitewash of Gatland’s Wales and recent double over Australia to retain the Bledisloe Cup for the 14th year in a row.
Winning run
Their most recent win over the Wallabies last Saturday week in Wellington extended their winning run at home to 42 matches, dating back to a 32-29 defeat to South Africa in Hamilton in 2004. At Eden Park, where two of three-match series against the Lions will be played, the All Blacks haven’t lost since July 3rd, 1994 – a 34-match unbeaten streak.
The last time a home union beat the All Blacks was in 2012 when England won at Twickenham. The Lions have won one series in New Zealand, in 1971, while the four home unions have defeated the All Blacks there twice, England in 1973 and 2003. The All Blacks have won 11 of their last 12 Tests against the Lions.
To compound all of this, the Lions couldn’t have agreed to a more demanding or unhelpful itinerary if they had tried. The Pro12 and Premiership finals will be on Saturday May 27th, meaning the 36-man playing squad will only assemble in full the next day and arrive in New Zealand with four full days to prepare for the tour opener against a Provincial Union team in Whangarei.
Thereafter, the remaining nine games will see them play all five Super Rugby franchises and the Maoris, as well as the All Blacks three times.
By contrast, after a warm-up game against Argentina in Cardiff in 2005, the 11-matches of that ill-fated tour to New Zealand contained games against seven provincial sides as well as the Maoris, against whom the Lions lost in addition to the 3-0 series defeat. Never mind the Test series, they’ll do well to win half these 10 games,
Trickiest
Gatland will have until December to choose his assistants, with the trickiest seemingly being the attack-cum-backs coach. Howley would be an obvious contender, having filled the role four years ago, all the more so as Schmidt is likely to prefer overseeing Ireland’s tour to Japan and Scotland are arranging a tour of Australia and Fiji.
This would absolutely rule out Gregor Townsend, who is likely to be involved with Glasgow until the tail end of the season anyway before then taking over from Cotter at Scotland. Glen Ella, who assisted Eddie Jones on England's tour of Australia, would be a left-field choice.
There are a few options for defence coach, albeit this will be a delicate issue for Gatland. Andy Farrell would also provide some continuity from four years ago, when Gatland overlooked his assistant at Wales, Shaun Edwards, and there is also England’s Paul Gustard.
Similarly, there would be strong candidates as forwards coach, with Steve Borthwick's work at Japan and England marking him out, not to mention other Kiwis in the mix such as Cotter and Irish scrum coach Greg Feek, along with the Irish and Scottish forwards coaches Simon Easterby and Jonathan Humphreys.
Then there will be the choice of captain, with Sam Warburton having a long association with Gatland and having led the Lions to success against the Wallabies; albeit he was injured when Alun Wyn Jones captained the side in the deciding third Test. The New Zealand-born Dylan Hartley appears the main rival.
As with Gatland, it would be hard to say no, even if looks the shortest of short straws.
2017 Tour dates
June 3rd v New Zealand Barbarians - Toll Stadium, Whangarei
June 7th v Blues - Eden Park, Auckland
June 10th v Crusaders - AMI Stadium, Christchurch
June 13th v Highlanders - Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin
June 17th v Māori All Blacks - Rotorua International Stadium, Rotorua
June 20th v Chiefs - Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
June 24th v New Zealand - Eden Park, Auckland
June 27th v Hurricanes - Westpac Stadium, Wellington
July 1st v New Zealand - Westpac Stadium, Wellington
July 8th v New Zealand - Eden Park, Auckland
