Warren Gatland will tackle New Zealand with ‘larger squad’

Clive Woodward was panned for assembling the largest ever British and Irish Lions touring party 11 years ago, but he believes Warren Gatland will tackle New Zealand next summer with an even larger assembly of men.

Forty-four players made the squad back in 2005 and Woodward called up a further seven before the tour was out. Add in a management team stretching to 26 and it made for an unwieldy operation.

Most controversial of all was his decision to operate with two distinct teams under different management setups, something which was viewed as alien to the collective ethos on which previous Lions tours were built.