Warren Gatland...! Champion not chump...

Great result for the lions.

The man takes more criticism than any other NH coach, three six nations champs and a lions tour victory.

What a coach, what a team what a victory...!

He's said "up yours" to a lot of people today fair play to him.
This could also be the making of a lot of these Welsh players, all of them apart from a fly half are out there for us, and nearly all of them have played key roles.  

maestegmafia wrote:Great result for the lions.

The man takes more criticism than any other NH coach, three six nations champs and a lions tour victory.

What a coach, what a team what a victory...!

And rightly so, what he sent the Lions out to play for most of this tour hasn't been up to scratch, he was bailed out by the players ripping up the script and finally playing some rugby in the second half. The players deserve all the credit, they won the series despite gatland, not because of him.

You also need to give credit to the players, ultimately they made the difference.

Halfpenny joined the line and created scoring opportunities for his players like I have not seen for... Well ever.

Corbisiero set the lead in the first half, creating penalty after penalty for Halfpenny to slot.

The rest of the forward pack ensured the Wallabies could not contest the breakdown which meant long phases of possession.

Yeah, give Gatland his credit, but the players stepped up BIG time.

nth wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Great result for the lions.

The man takes more criticism than any other NH coach, three six nations champs and a lions tour victory.

What a coach, what a team what a victory...!

And rightly so, what he sent the Lions out to play for most of this tour hasn't been up to scratch, he was bailed out by the players ripping up the script and finally playing some rugby in the second half.  The players deserve all the credit, they won the series despite gatland, not because of him.

Crikey - so when it goes wrong its all the coaches fault, but when it goes right it's all about the players? Harsh.

Given that the Lions took a notably different approach to attacking play in the 2nd half of that test compared to what they played in the 2.5 tests preceding, either the players made that decision themselves or the coaches took an eternity to work out what they had been doing wrong. Neither puts the coaches in a good light.

Of the players took 2.5 tests to work it out and do what the coaches asked. To me, the lions improved immeasurably when the plodding sexton went off

GloriousEmpire wrote:Of the players took 2.5 tests to work it out and do what the coaches asked. To me, the lions improved immeasurably when the plodding sexton went off

Which doesn't tally with what the coaches have said about the earlier performances. They were playing how the coaches wanted, it was just wrong.

Gatland looked absolutely drained after the match. I think the criticism really got to him and I'm not sure he's going to be able to enjoy the win until he settles back down.

There's none so blind as those who will not see.

nth wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Great result for the lions.

The man takes more criticism than any other NH coach, three six nations champs and a lions tour victory.

What a coach, what a team what a victory...!

And rightly so, what he sent the Lions out to play for most of this tour hasn't been up to scratch, he was bailed out by the players ripping up the script and finally playing some rugby in the second half.  The players deserve all the credit, they won the series despite gatland, not because of him.

And you know this how? Or could it be, just as likely a scenario, that the players finally did put Gatland's plan into effect? That today's way of playing was the way Gatland always wanted. Just as Wales finally did in the last match of the 6N?

 They stuck to the game plan when things got difficult and executed it well under extreme pressure both players and coaches can take a lot of credit for such a performance