Gatland rules with head, not heart

Warren Gatland may have made himself Public Enemy No 1 in Ireland, but his selections throughout the Lions tour prove he cannot be accused of bias towards Wales.

The straight-talking Kiwi has built a reputation for winning trophies as well as making tough and sometimes eye-catching decisions.

Few of those have grabbed the world’s attention as much as dropping Brian O’Driscoll for Saturday’s third Test against Australia.

Gatland is savvy enough to know the implications and repercussions of his decision, which reflects the eternal dilemma between selecting on reputation or form.

But no coach can allow their heart to rule their head, especially with a Lions series on the line. Changes had to be made and while the omission of O’Driscoll was met with global surprise, the reaction is bordering on irrational. No player should be immune from scrutiny, not even the greatest player of his generation.

Few should imagine this decision came easily.

Gatland, who spent his playing career in the thick of the action as a hooker, is an old-fashioned coach who enjoys the dressing room banter and a post-match beer with close allies such as O’Driscoll.

He would have moved mountains to have the Leinster man or Paul O’Connell on this tour, having worked closely together on the last Lions tour to South Africa, as well as with Ireland.

Gatland is respectful of previous achievement and has always put stock in O’Driscoll’s opinions. However, rugby issues are often black or white with the former teacher and ahead of a potentially career-defining game, Gatland had to ask himself whether O’Driscoll — along with a handful of others — played well enough to hold onto his jersey. Clearly, he believes, the answer was ‘No’.

Sam Warburton, who could well lead Wales for the forthcoming decade, suffered the same fate during this year’s Six Nations, yet Wales still went on to win the title.

Lions legend Phil Bennett, a key part of the famous 1974 side unbeaten in South Africa and who captained the 1977 tour to New Zealand, summed up the mix of surprise and reason within Wales at O’Driscoll’s axing.

Bennett said: “I expected changes but I didn’t expect O’Driscoll to be dropped. It would have been very unfair to drop Jonathan Davies because he has been the best centre on tour.

“You pick your best team and if he [Gatland] thinks that is playing Jamie Roberts with Jonathan Davies, who know each other so very well, then so be it. But it’s a big call.”

Gatland has rarely allowed sentiment to enter the equation come selection. This is the guy, after all, who ended Martyn Williams’ career shortly after talking him out of retirement, picked 14 Ospreys to face England at Twickenham — and won, and overlooked close-friend Shaun Edwards for this tour.

How ironic now that the man who handed O’Driscoll his first cap should be the man to end his Test career 14 years later.

Bennett was stunned that O’Driscoll is not even among the replacements. However, former Wales skipper Gareth Thomas, who took over the Lions captaincy from O’Driscoll in New Zealand in 2005, argues the Irish star is not a player for the bench.

Thomas said: “It’s going to be really hard for the Irish public to swallow but Dricco isn’t an impact player. He is one of the greatest players to ever put on a pair of rugby boots but there’s no room for sympathy.

“Manu Tuilagi, for 20 minutes at the end of the game when defences are tired, is more of an impact player.

“He [O’Driscoll] is someone who susses out defences, what they do, what they’re up to, what their strengths and weaknesses are and then tries to exploit them.

“He doesn’t come on and just go mad for 20 minutes because that’s not his game.”

It is intriguing how, despite weeks of team-building with the aim of forming a strong alliance between the four nations, partisan differences emerge come selection.

However, even with 10 Welshman starting against the Wallabies in Sydney, Gatland cannot be accused of putting his Dragons first.

Justin Tipuric has been in remarkable form and Alex Cuthbert scored the winner in Brisbane yet both have missed out, to Sean O’Brien and Tommy Bowe respectively, while Toby Faletau has been forced to bide his time.

Wales have 10 starters but is it not to be expected that a Lions Test team would be dominated by the country that has been dominant over recent years?

Gatland’s record in the Heineken Cup and Premiership with Wasps, in New Zealand’s NPC with Waikato, in the Six Nations and World Cup with Wales and with the Lions, thus far, have earned him the right to make these tight calls.!

The underlying fractures in British and Irish rugby have emerged again ahead of the final Test, however, we will all celebrate together if Gatland’s selection proves right.

Matt Lloyd is a Welsh rugby journalist based in Cardiff.