A Simple Message for Gatland
It has never been a good idea for the Lions coach to shoot from the hip. You nearly always end up shooting yourself in the foot, particularly when your weapon of choice, in this instance the Gatland Gun, has no obvious safety lock.
Perhaps Warren Gatland should give Graham Henry a ring and ask him what he learned about diplomacy on the 2001 Tour of Australia. The English can be a mouthy lot, they can be an arrogant lot, they can be a troublesome lot. And they can also be your best friends. In other words they are people.
12 years ago Henry worked the players too hard after a long season in the build-up to the tour. He was anxious to succeed and put his anxiety into hard work. But the last thing the players needed was hard work. Henry’s ergonomic regime created a degree of mutiny. A large part of that came from the English, but then they were a large part of the tour.
The whole point about the Lions is that it should bring people together. The fans come together and the players come together. So it is unfortunate that Gatland’s recent comments show that he is a straightforward lad from Hamilton who probably has a bit of divisive racism in him.
For those who have not read it yet Gatland said, “English players are not always the most popular with other countries because of the history. People like having a pop at them. It’s just being aware of potential issues that may arise.
“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.”
At this point it might be worth reminding Gatland that Mike Phillips, Andy Powell and Gavin Henson, all of who are Welsh, have had a fair few run-ins with the media. The firestorm on the 2005 Tour – apart from the ridiculous vanity appointment of Alistair Campbell – was the spear tackle on Ireland’s Brian O’Driscoll. The wreckers and the Firemen’s Union on the ’74 Tour were primarily Irish and Welsh.
Before the World Cup, before the fiasco, I (an Englishman) wrote a column saying I hoped that England lost because they were an unattractive bunch of arrogant louts. And so they were, just as Bill Beaumont’s Grand Slam team was a largely good bunch of lads. I repeated the arrogance allegation during the 2011 World Cup and Brian Moore responded by calling me one of those Anglo Saxon words that I recall Chaucer spelling with a ‘q.’
Nationalism is explosive territory and Lions coaches should best avoid it. Chris Robshaw and Stuart Lancaster don’t have decent leadership values because they are English, just as a large part of the World Cup team weren’t arses because they were English. Indeed I seem to remember that the last bloke to behave like an idiot in 2011 was Manu Tuilagi and nobody could accuse him of being English.
Carwyn James, the great coach of the ’71 Lions Tour, was a Welsh nationalist, but he didn’t think of his players that way. He thought of them as individuals, as human beings, inspired by different messages and motivations.
So the message for Gatland is a simple one. Don’t start talking about the English, the Welsh, the Scots or the Irish. Talk about the Lions. Together you are strong.
Will Gatland’s comments have got through to the players and set and awkward precedent? Comments below…
Posted under News & Opinions
3 months ago
Tihs article could quite easily have been written about another team of ‘people’ who receive annual media scorn.
“Don’t start talking about the Pakeha, the Maori, the Samoan or the Tongan. Talk about the All Blacks. Together you are strong.”
3 months ago
Definitely needs to treat the players as individuals and respect everyone, get to know them, and what they are about. Not thinking about their country of birth/allegiance. Will be a tough task for him.
3 months ago
It’s quite ironic that your surname is Reason, Mark, as you seem completely devoid of it in your blog. Gatland pointed out that there was a media circus that follows English rugby players these days, which is undoubtedly true (the wall to walk coverage of his comments is conclusive proof). What Gatland has not said, in any way shape or form, is that he won’t pick English players, but he is mindful of the claptrap that gets spouted about them. And you Mark, along with numerous other journo’s have proved without doubt what he was talking about with misplaced quotes, due lack of context and general defensiveness over your team! Dear God man, you’ve even dragged up the old ‘arrogant’ tab thttje rest of the world threw at you, in your defence!
3 months ago
Well said Bob Richardson. Most incite full comments on this page. Totally agree!!
3 months ago
Well said, Rob Richardson. Mark do you really interpret WG’s comments as “divisive racism”? If every English journo is as sensitive as you, g_d help us….
3 months ago
Interesting that the journalists’ SIMPLE message masquerades as the importance of squad cohesion, while painting Tuilagi with the same racist brush he purports to condemn. I fear your objectivity has been lost within your own nationalistic rants and perhaps the ‘Pitbull’ was closer to the mark with his Chaucer comment, than you might tend to agree with. Keep taking the tablets Mr Reason.
3 months ago
Why the hell are you mentioning Carwyn James? Back in ‘71 England had made little impression on World Rugby. I sometimes wonder whether journalists have anything approaching a brain. Twisting and sensationalising a public figure’s words is the stock in trade of a journalist. Handing the Australian media and team a chance to pick holes in the Lions seems to be yours too. It is a statement of fact. Ridiculous “commentary” from people like you and the likes of every other journalist who turned these comments into Gatland’s “anti-English rant” is putting holes in the whole thing before they’ve even stepped on the plane. Have a word with yourself and stop behaving like a pratt.
3 months ago
Simple message or simplistic! Have to agree with comments above about journo’s trying to wind things up! Bottom line is Gatland is correct with his observation. The most successful Lions Tours are dominated by the Celtic influence!
3 months ago
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3 months ago
Well spotted Huw. You might also add that most un-successful Lions tours are also dominated by the Celts. Its a numbers thing – 3 Celtic countries, 1 (largely) non-Celtic country. The real link between all successful tours, is the unity, and this has nothing to do with players nationality, it is to do with the ability to manage the players properly.
3 months ago
I agree with all that Rob Richardson posted, Gatland was only pointing to the facts, and was fully aware of the media circus following the England team. As I’ve posted on another stream, Gatland will pick in form specialists in every position no matter what country they come from, and he wont make his final choice until after the 6 nations, and like me he’s pencilled in a few who are certain to go, but who knows what injuries will occur in the next couple of games, and for a mad scenario just to make his choice more difficult. Wales lose to Scotland, but beat England in Cardiff, Scotland MURDER the Frogs ( sorry that’s racist ) the French and win the title, on points difference happy picking W G. by the way as a P S, I’m a Taffy ( with a sense of humour )
about 1 month ago
Rob Richardson is exactly right. I just don’t see where in Garlands statement he infers he won’t pick English players, in fact he seems careful not to say that. What he says is a fact and most of it is media driven as Rob has stated. I was in the UK the week this came out and the press literally jumped all over it like salivating dogs. It had the distinct undercurrent to me though that they saw it as a chance to cause controversy and promote more ‘fringe’ English players. There was a lot of talk about how if Ashton doesn’t go (never mind his 2yrs of horror form) then this would be why.
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