Steve Hansen dismisses Gatland claims as he leaves Fekitoa, Milner-Skudder, and Luatua out of squad

All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen has named the squad he believes can secure a fifth straight series win over the British and Irish Lions. And he poured scorn on Warren Gatland’s assertion that there would be little difference between New Zealand’s Super Rugby sides and the world champions.

The war of words between the opposing coaches has been threatening to erupt since Hansen said he did not expect anything new from Gatland’s style of play in the upcoming three-Test series. That stoked the New Zealand media to talk about ‘Warrenball’, a fairly one-dimensional gameplan of using power and pace to get over the gainline. That has exasperated the Lions boss this week.

After a press conference in Auckland, on Monday, Gatland made an off-the-record comment that contained a four-letter word. It was picked up by a journalist’s recording device and was printed in an English tabloid.