Lions boss shines light on darker arts of All Blacks

Warren Gatland has called on Test referees to clamp down on New Zealand’s off-the-ball blocking tactics ahead of the British and Irish Lions’ three-Test series against the All Blacks.

The Lions open their three-game series with the world champions on Saturday at Eden Park, Auckland, and head coach Gatland will use the customary eve of Test access to match referees to ask South Africa’s Jaco Peyper to clamp down on what he perceives as interference on his side’s kick chasers.

Peyper took charge of last Saturday’s tour match against the Maori All Blacks in Rotorua and could be heard regularly interacting with assistant referees Jerome Garces and Romain Poite, both of whom will be holding the whistle for the second and third Tests respectively, over the New Zealanders’ blocking of Lions runners.