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Warren Gatland remembers the third Test of the 2017 Lions tour to New Zealand on Rugby Retro
British and Irish Lions tours are rugby’s ultimate memory makers.
They inspire emotion, and emotion is powerful. The unbridled joy of 2013, the anguish of 2009, the disappointment of 2005. We could go much further back; the feelings have always run deep. And when you feel something deeply, you tend to remember the details.
For the Lions, it’s the coming together and then the going away, to a far corner of the world. Invariably, that corner is home to the best team on the planet. Time is short, pressure is high, and the history of the jersey follows your every move.
2017 in New Zealand had all of these ingredients, and then some, for head coach Warren Gatland. Returning to his homeland, desperate to banish the Lions’ demons of 12 years earlier, Gatland was taking on rugby’s greatest challenge.
He was going to remember this tour, whatever the outcome, for life. And speaking to Sky Sports’ Rugby Retro three years on from the drawn third Test at Eden Park, it’s clear that he’s forgotten none of it.
“It was a little bit strange, really. I went down to the field, saw Steve Hansen and shook his hand, and he said ‘how do you feel?’ and I said ‘I’m not too sure’. He said ‘it’s a bit like kissing your sister, isn’t it?’
“It took a while for things to sink in and then afterwards, on reflection…I’m pretty proud of a drawn series.”
It remains a baffling result, not least because of the manner in which New Zealand had won the first Test at the same venue two weeks prior. The All Blacks were comfortable throughout, Gatland made to feel anything but by the New Zealand press thereafter.
“Everyone knew that I was under a little bit of pressure, with some personal criticism…I didn’t let that show in any way towards the team. It probably made me a bit more resilient and to work harder.
“When I look back, was I a bit naïve? I had this romantic view of an ex-All Black, Kiwi, taking the Lions to New Zealand and letting the rugby do all the talking and celebrating rugby as a game. It didn’t kind of pan out that way in certain aspects.”
The personal criticism piqued when Gatland was portrayed as a clown, complete with face paint and red nose, on the front page of New Zealand’s national daily.
Even for Sky Sports commentator Miles Harrison, broadcasting on his sixth Lions tour, the scrutiny went too far.
“I wasn’t totally surprised, because I think everybody knew it was coming. You go to New Zealand, or Australia, or South Africa, and there’s that siege mentality, and it’s something that the team and the management have to cope with.
“I think the surprise was the way in which it happened, and if I’m going to be brutally honest, the rather pathetic way at times.
“If you’re going to challenge somebody like that, then just get it right. Someone like Warren, and the whole management team and the squad in general, were only going to react to it in one way…and that was to make them even more ferociously competitive.”
A rain and wind-whipped Wellington hosted the second Test. Emotions ran especially high, and the memories are vivid. The Sonny Bill Williams red card, Taulupe Faletau’s try, the crowd chanting as one for Maro Itoje after the Lions had squared the series and booked a decider back in Auckland.
Gatland, on his third Lions assignment and his second as head coach, looked to his experience in preparation.
“The big focus in 2009 was to earn some respect back into the jersey, and even though we lost the series in South Africa…we felt we’d achieved that. We won the series in Australia in the third Test in 2013, so there was a lot of belief and a lot of confidence.”
On the match itself, Gatland’s recall is razor-sharp, and more than a little insightful.
“There was a moment in the game, I think when (Ngani) Laumape scored, I think it was about 13 minutes on the clock…”
He goes on to describe in minute detail the length of the field build-up, player by player, and how the try unfolded.
“That moment really changed the way that I coached Wales in 2018, when we had a great run, and 2019.”
“I had the conversation with Jonathan Davies afterwards, and he came up to me and he said ‘I’m really sorry’. I said ‘what do you mean?’ He said ‘I should’ve got to Laumape, I could see him, but my legs had gone…’
“I looked back and saw it was only 13 minutes on the clock…but the All Blacks were so used to playing that high intensity for three, four, five minutes, and we probably in the northern hemisphere weren’t used to that ball-in-play time, and they have the ability to react really quickly.
“I went back and thought about that, and it definitely changed the way we prepared for Wales in the subsequent couple of years.”
The Lions’ points that night came from the long-range left boot of Elliot Daly, and the nerveless right boot of Owen Farrell, his fourth and final penalty on 78 minutes bringing the scores to 15-all.
The kick-off that followed is now part of rugby folklore. Ken Owens inadvertently caught the ball in an off-side position, but was the chasing Kieran Read in front of the kicker to start with? Did he take a man out in the air? Did the ball go sideways anyway? Romain Poite reversed his initial penalty decision against Owens and the Lions and awarded the All Blacks a scrum.
The whole sequence is cause for a chuckle.
“[Ken’s] just so relieved he wasn’t penalised in that situation and end up losing a Test series. He felt he’d never be able to go home, the ‘Sheriff of Carmarthen’…he’s a great man, he’s a great team man…he’s relieved the finger hasn’t been pointed at him and he was able to get away with that!”
Harrison remembers Owens relief in the moment. “Another image of the day, when a scrum is called, there’s one man waiting for everybody else, it’s Ken Owens. He’s got his arms out waiting for his props!”
The strongest, and fondest, memories – for both men – are left until last. Harrison described the intermingled teams on the podium on the night as ‘two sets of heroes’.
“I love that picture. It’s become my favourite rugby picture, and I’m going to be honest here, they’re my two favourite rugby teams I suppose, the Lions and the All Blacks because…the values that underpin both sides are just perfect for the game.”
Gatland agrees. New Zealand 2017 may not have brought the unbridled joy of ’13, but on the far side of the world against the very best in the world, it delivered an emotional journey that made memories never to be forgotten.
“I think one of the great things about the game, and the result, was the end of the game. That iconic photo, where you see both teams on the stage, Kieran Read and Sam Warburton holding the trophy aloft…I think that’s an absolutely brilliant picture, I think it will go down in history as being very, very special.”
Sourse: skysports.com
