Lions row back on ‘spy’ claims

The Lions were forced into defensive mode yesterday following claims by head coach Warren Gatland that Australia had been spying on his players.

During his post-match press conference on Saturday following the 22-12 victory over the Queensland Reds, Gatland was asked how the Lions’ security was holding up. He replied that members of his support staff had to ‘chase out’ someone caught filming a training session in Perth last week ahead of the game against Western Force.

He then claimed Australia had “been videoing us from behind the pitch and doing individual videos on players”.

Lions media managers pointed out the Australians had been legitimately filming game footage during the Force game last Wednesday, although an individual had been chased from a training session and yesterday morning Gatland explained further.

“I said the Australian team were videoing us at the game in Perth last week from behind the field, which they are perfectly entitled to. We threw some punter out of training who was videoing us, that’s all. I have got no worries. There is no allegation of spying.”