Lions 2017 - Gatland at the helm

Warren Gatland’s introduction today as the 2017 Lions’ head coach wasn’t a great surprise! Okay perhaps I'll rephrase that, it wasn't a surprise at all but it was confirmation that the right man has been appointed to take on an incredibly challenging role.

At this moment in time New Zealand are further in front of the rest of the world than they have been for a number of years and we all know that with another nine months of rugby under their belts they will improve again. Gatland’s recent rugby experiences back on home soil did nothing to dispel the fact that his job is a daunting one but in his words he’s been offered ‘the biggest job in world rugby’ and success would engrave him, and the 2017 Lions squad, into the history books forevermore. 

This summer New Zealand ruthlessly put Gatland’s Wales to the sword with a series whitewash when they were supposed to be at their weakest and 'rebuilding'. While the opening two tests were largely competitive the All Blacks still never looked like losing the series. At the media announcement confirming his role the Kiwi openly admitted that one of the areas in which Wales fell short this summer was that they lacked a spot of pace in certain areas. Also they took their eye off the ball in the opening two Tests and allowed New Zealand to pounce, the third was just one Test too many.  Neither of these elements will be replicated by the Lions, lessons will have been learned by all with regard to a relentless pursuit of victory and with the players available for selection pace is not something the Lions will be short of.

As of today Gatland removed his Welsh hat and replaced it with a Lions one and one of his first conclusions as Lions Head Coach is that the re-emergence of English Rugby under Eddie Jones is a huge positive; 

“The best thing at the moment about the Lions, and purely with my Lions hat on, is the improvement in England over the last 12 months. Given the strength in depth of English rugby, they should always be in the top two of three in the world and for the Celtic nations, they should be the benchmark with the others chasing them. But, that hasn’t happened for the last seven… eight… ten years. It’s pleasing that England’s players are playing well and with confidence and that’s going to be good for the Lions.”

This statement was followed by a warning to those housed within England’s ranks that they will need to continue performing strongly this season and cannot take their eye off the ball. It’s a warning that no home nations player will need to be reminded of as there isn’t a great honour than representing the Lions. When it comes to selection Gatland also made it clear that form will count greatly towards players’ involvement with the words ‘the bottom line is that it’s about your form, you’ve got to be playing well to be selected.’ As intuitive as that sounds it was good to hear that players won't warrant spots based on prior experience alone, of course it may be a consideration factor on 50/50 calls for example but current form will be king. 

Now, there’s absolutely no hiding away from the fact  that most people believe that it is the impossible Lions tour. Yet Gatland is clear, if there are members of the Lions party behind the scenes or players that believe that the Lions won’t win the series then they should make themselves known now and not get on the plane. He hasn’t any room for individuals that will cast doubt on proceedings. Yes, the challenge is large but with the talent housed in the home nations the 2017 Lions have the potential and ability to deliver in the toughest rugby environment on earth. 

Gatland brings so much experience to the party including his intricate knowledge of rugby in New Zealand and the lessons that he will have taken from the last two Lions tours that he was involved in. On Wednesday the New Zealander gets on a plane Auckland and will formally start his preparations for the tour. From then on the next official step on the road to New Zealand will be the announcement of his assistant coaches and that will take place on 7th December. 

The countdown to Lions 2017 is very much on and between now and the opening mid week match we’ll spend plenty of time pondering on potential tourists and debating the merits of different Test XVs. Personally I can't wait for all of the discussion but at the end of the day it will be up to the man that directed a series victory in 2013 to make the final decisions.