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24th July 2021
12:17pm BST
"I said it was robust [debate]. We were an hour and a half in selection and it was the hardest selection I've ever been in. "I asked the coaches to come along with their 23s, we were all different. We all had to compromise and debate different positions, that's the way it should be. "I know a lot of people think it's the team that I select, but that's never been the way whether with the Lions or with Wales. It's important that, as coaches, we all have an input into the make-up of the squad."As we have noted before, Gatland has the trophies and Lions pedigree to not have each and every decision lambasted. Still, some questions need asking. And so, before a ball is kicked, we are asking the biggest questions that will be tossed out there if the Lions are beaten by South Africa in the First Test.
Fair, fair, fair play to the guy for getting back on tour and PLAYING again just three weeks after dislocating his shoulder. Let's get that out of the way first.
But to come in from hard out rehab and play 20-odd minutes against a well-beaten Stormers side to then go full bore against a hardened Springboks side that know his shoulder will be tender? It seems like madness.
The decision to play him from the start is made even stranger when you consider Iain Henderson, who has been dropped entirely, was in good form. Adam Beard had also shown up well in warm-up games.
Three perplexing decisions. Henderson misses out because Gatland started Ali Price ahead of Conor Murray and then needed a captain - Alun Wyn Jones - in from the start. Beirne has been brilliant but the bigger and bolder Courtney Lawes starts.
The Adams decision was described by Gatland as the toughest he had to make. Duhan van der Merwe and Anthony Watson were too, so it was a no-win for Gatland.
That being said, if the Lions lose, people will ask why a man who scored eight tries in four warm-up games was not in the match-day 23.
Making Conor Murray tour captain was a pure left-field call from Gatland, especially with the likes of Stuart Hogg, Ken Owens and Iain Henderson - all with genuine top-level captaincy experience - in the squad.
Instead, Murray was burdened with the task and then asked to play to a pre-ordained tactical plan set out by the coaches for the South Africa 'A' game. He was supposed to play the Sharks but was ruled out as a Covid close contact, and it was Price that made the most of the starts that came his way.
Murray and Dan Biggar seemed the go-to half back combination we all expected for the Test Series, but Gatland has gone off a hunch here. He will be seeing a lot more than us in training, but Murray has been dealt a harsh hand.
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