Warren Gatland believes that the British and Irish Lions could be equipped with an "incredibly strong" squad for the formidable challenge of tackling New Zealand in four years' time.
It is 42 years since the Lions won a Test series in All Blacks country, but they may well travel with optimism when 2017 comes around. Not only did the 2013 version triumph over Australia, sealing a 2-1 series success with a 41-16 rout in the decider, but they achieved it with a crop of exciting young players, such as Leigh Halfpenny, George North, Alex Corbisiero, Sam Warburton, Dan Lydiate and Toby Faletau.
When the planning begins for New Zealand, it will be aligned to the capabilities of a squad containing a core of world-class talents. Asked if he thought the Lions could prevail in 2017, Gatland, the current head coach, said: "Yes, I think if we get it right in terms of the preparation and stuff. If you look at how young this squad is, a lot of them could be around in four years' time.
"If they are playing well enough and you have got four more years' experience on some young heads, some young shoulders and they are in their late twenties, that potentially makes the Lions squad in four years' time incredibly strong.
"You've always got to believe that when you go somewhere you go there to win. I know we talk about 2005 [in New Zealand] being disappointing, and for us the motivation in 2009 [in South Africa] was about respect and getting respect back for that jersey. The whole focus on this tour was about delivering the Test series win."
Gatland came in for fierce criticism from most quarters for his third Test selection, one that contained 10 Welshmen, but no Brian O'Driscoll, who was left out of the 23.
He revealed that an experience gained while coaching Ireland several years ago gave him an unshakeable belief in how he should approach his latest conundrum. "We lost an away game to Scotland which cost Ireland a grand slam. Tactically, I changed the way that we played, influenced by some selections," he explained. "I promised myself I would never do that again, that I would never back down from what I felt would be the right decision. On 50-50 calls, sometimes you can be swayed by other coaches, but, when you really believe it's the right decision, you have got to back yourself 100%."
One of the biggest challenges for the Lions in New Zealand in four years' time and South Africa (2021) will be improving pre-tour fixture scheduling and subsequent preparation difficulties.
This year, the Aviva Premiership and RaboDirect PRO 12 finals took place only 48 hours before the Lions left London, which meant players involved in those games took no part in pre-tour training. Andy Irvine, the Lions tour manager, said: "One of the great things on this tour was that we had tremendous continuity from 2009 to 2013 in terms of the coaches, the medics, the physios.
"The one thing I would say – and I passionately believe in this – is that the scheduling is all wrong. We, as a [Lions] board did our damnedest to give Warren more time. It is bonkers that you have a Rabo final and an Aviva final 48 hours before you fly out. Believe me, we tried as hard as we could to change that.
"I am not sure if we can change it in four years' time, but thereafter, once the SANZAR agreement [the touring deal between the Lions and Australia, New Zealand and South Africa] comes up for negotiation, make no mistake, our boys will get more time with the players. They have to, because it is unfair on the coaches and the players.
"We are powerless to break [the agreement for 2017], unless we have the agreement of the New Zealand Rugby Union, or alternatively, the clubs back home. If you can do it, you are a better man than me."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article