Before the Lions’ final midweek match of this summer’s tour had even kicked off on Tuesday morning the ante had been significantly upped by the New Zealand Herald doing their now routine clown business on Warren Gatland.
The tourists' coach was depicted on the front page of the sports section as a circus clown underneath the headline 'Gatland's absolutely blown it', with Gregor Paul writing: "implying that the All Blacks are dirty is the unforgivable sin. Questioning their playing ethics and morals is a line that can't be crossed."
It’s not the first time the Herald has used the caricature of Gatland, having also previously done so with Australia coach Michael Cheika.
The game hadn’t even kicked off yet, remember.
It eventually did and, for just over 80 minutes, the focus was on what was actually happening on the pitch and not the tit-for-tat off it.
However, you’ll be glad to know that all the good stuff got back underway shortly after Romain Poite’s final whistle had signalled a 31-31 draw between the Hurricanes and the Lions.
Firstly, Gatland didn't help himself. By making what the Herald called a 'stunning admission' he revealed that he decided against using any of the extra players he had called into the squad as replacements, due to the critcism that had come his way from doing so. This only gave the preying masses more fodder for their respective cannons.
Gatland had done the unthinkable of leaving his entire front row on the pitch for 83 gruelling minutes, simply because of some flak he had received from pundits and fans? And then gone and admitted it to the world? He might as well have called the firing squad to arms himself.
'Dithering Warren Gatland costs Lions an easy win', was the headline over Stephen Jones' match report in The Times.
“It was the day when Warren Gatland’s replacements’ policy, executed perfectly until now, fell apart. He was correct with the numbers and the players he took from the Welsh and Scotland teams touring nearby to protect his test team,” he wrote.
“But today, the Lions’ second-string were playing their last games of a brutal season, they had the game won, but with most of them struggling and exhausted and with Iain Henderson in the bin, Gatland left six fresh players, all desperate for action, on the bench.
“All were of test class, all had played good test rugby, and they were left kicking their heels as the Lions on the field slowed. Instead, he let the starters, shattered, settle for a draw and the home team scored twice inside a few minutes.”
On stuff.co.nz, Mark Reason makes a similar point about Gatland's refusal to use his bench, saying that it "punished" his own side.
“The Lions could have been punished by the reluctance of Warren Gatland to put on the players he called up for geographical convenience rather than merit. There were a lot of tired legs. But the Lions also felt the effect of the yellow card that was rightly given against Iain Henderson for a foolishly reckless clean-out,” Reason writes.
He continues on and finishes his piece with quite the sly dig ...
“The Lions also held onto the ball when the Canes wanted to go quickly, an unattractive habit which borders on cheating.
“I doubt Gatland will pull his team up for that. He will be too busy trying to keep the dirt trackers on track. Can he stop them larking about when there is still so much to be done? A planned dinner out on Wednesday night and a trip to Queenstown at the beginning of next week may not quite cut it, but don’t expect any dwarves to be thrown.”
The Gatland-bashing was evident everywhere and Giles Mole in The Telegraph again called into question why he had not given any of his front row a rest – under the headline 'How did the Lions let slip a winning position and what is the point of a bench if you don't want to use it?'
“This was a sensational game of rugby, aggressive, attritional, and at the final whistle there were bodies strewn across the field. This was a game that called for fresh legs, impact off the bench, with a moral-boosting victory there for the taking for the Lions. But Gatland clearly didn’t trust his bench to deliver.”
The Kiwi coach will have to pull off something special in Saturday’s second Test if he’s to put the critisicm to bed but, for the next few days at least, you can expect to see it only gather pace.
As for his thoughts on being depicted as a clown?
“I couldn’t give a toss. I’m just worried about us, I’m not worried about what Steve Hansen is saying, or what any newspaper is drawing me up as – I hope it was a happy clown, that’s all.”
In keeping with the circus theme: Gatland’s reputation is undoubtedly on a tightrope.
