Was Warren Gatland right to drop Brian O’Driscoll?

Simon Lewis says Yes

Take down the Warren Gatland effigies, steer the matches away from that Wales flag and stop your sobbing for just a few moments to consider this, the British & Irish Lions head coach may just have done the right thing in deciding to drop Brian O’Driscoll for the final Test.

Of course, anyone with a pulse and an ounce of feeling for rugby (I qualify on both counts, by the way) would prefer to see O’Driscoll play in a series-winning Lions side, a finale befitting Ireland’s greatest player after four tours.

Yet sentiment will not beat Australia and the purpose of this Lions tour, and indeed all sport, is to win. Gatland has picked a team he thinks is best suited to his idea of how to win this third Test and deliver a first series win since 1997.

It is a shame a glittering Lions career had to end this way but Gatland clearly has decided on a specific way to put the Wallabies away in this extremely close-run series and he believes the Jamie Roberts-Jon Davies partnership is the most powerful midfield combination to serve that purpose.

When Roberts was ruled out of the first two Tests with a hamstring strain, Gatland deployed Davies, a natural 13 like O’Driscoll, as an auxiliary inside centre.

The combination with O’Driscoll was not a success and the return of Roberts could have seen Davies dropped in a straight swap, reuniting the first-choice 2009 combination.

But that would have been the easy route to take on what was essentially a 50/50 call, one not taking into account O’Driscoll’s limited contribution over Tests one and two.

In the opener in Brisbane, O’Driscoll’s usual intensity at the breakdown was quickly nullified by New Zealand referee Chris Pollock, who twice penalised him for not supporting his body weight at rucks, the threat of a subsequent yellow card for a further indiscretion, by his own admission, keeping him out of a key facet of the game.

Davies’ inexperience at 12 did not help O’Driscoll’s case in the second Test as the outside backs failed to receive the quality ball they need, but the former Lions captain was also guilty of the general malaise when kicking out of hand. The Lions kept gifting the Australians opportunities to attack and ultimately it cost them the game.

So why not drop Davies? Well, take a look at the other five changes Gatland made to the team where greater physicality or scrummaging know-how has been introduced, in the front row, back row and at scrum-half.

Gatland clearly wants to bludgeon the Aussies into submission and O’Driscoll is just not that sort of player, his deftness of touch more akin to the Wallabies’ attacking style.

And if it turns out Gatland has found the right way to secure that long-yearned for series victory on Saturday, then all of this fuss will quickly be forgotten.

Or would anyone really prefer to see the Lions lose, just to prove Gatland was wrong to omit O’Driscoll? If there is anyone out there then the Lions really are in trouble as a concept.

Murray Kinsella says No

THE decision to drop Brian O’Driscoll for the third Test is the biggest gamble of Warren Gatland’s career. And in my opinion it may prove his biggest mistake.

To strip his team of a leader in O’Driscoll when they have already lost Paul O’Connell and Sam Warburton doesn’t make sense with such a high-pressure game ahead.

Furthermore, dropping O’Driscoll means the Lions have lost their most creative attacking centre as well as their most reliable and hard-working defender.

The Lions’ centres, and the backline in general, have suffered from a lack of attacking opportunities, particularly in the second Test. O’Driscoll touched the ball just eight times last Saturday and while he wasn’t at his sharpest, the lack of understanding between himself and Davies was clear to see. The Welshman just didn’t read what O’Driscoll and Jonny Sexton wanted from him in attack.

Defensively, O’Driscoll was magnificent. He made 14 tackles, leading the Lions’ tackle count. Davies? He made five tackles but missed three, including that crucial one for the Wallabies’ winning try. The look that O’Driscoll gave Davies immediately after that miss on Adam Ashley-Cooper said it all; it was inexcusable defending.

O’Driscoll is still one of the finest defenders in the 13 channel in world rugby; Davies just isn’t of the same calibre.

The combination of Davies and O’Driscoll didn’t work for the Lions. Change was needed, but Gatland has dropped the wrong player.

During the most recent game between Ireland and Wales, O’Driscoll showed the gulf in class when he burst outside Davies to set up a try for Simon Zebo. The argument will be put forward that O’Driscoll has declined as a player, but on this very tour he was full of spark in the warm-up games and has out-performed Davies in the two Tests.

We have to at least try to comprehend why Gatland has made this call. Jamie Roberts and Davies have huge experience as a pair having played together for Wales so many times, but as a duo they haven’t beaten Australia. On the 2009 Lions tour, O’Driscoll and Roberts formed one of the most effective centre combinations I have seen.

The addition of the likes of Roberts, O’Brien and Faletau to the starting team should help the Lions to get over the gain-line more often. O’Driscoll would have benefited greatly from the go-forward that those guys will provide. I’m certain we would have seen O’Driscoll improve in attack with the kind of possession that Gatland intends his team to produce. The Lions will miss O’Driscoll’s inventive contributions.

Beyond what O’Driscoll provides as a player, we must consider how important his experience and personality would have been on Saturday.

This game is as high-pressure as it gets. The team Gatland has named looks short of leaders. It can be easy to get caught up in the cliché of gallant heroes making tearful speeches before games like this, but leadership is still one of the most important things on a Lions tour. O’Driscoll knows what it is to play in a deciding third Test; his experience would have been invaluable. I would love to be proved wrong and see the Lions win this Test series, but I believe that Gatland has made a critical mistake in omitting O’Driscoll.