Warren Gatland 'hated' British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand and will never coach them again
He also reveals he tried to speak to Sean O'Brien after the flanker's stinging criticism
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Your support makes all the difference.Warren Gatland will never coach the British and Irish Lions again after admitting he “hated” last summer's tour to New Zealand.
And the 54-year-old has also hit out at Ireland flanker Sean O'Brien for his criticism of the coaching standards in the Test series with the All Blacks.
In the country of his birth, Gatland led the Lions to a 1-1 draw with the world's best side, but was subjected to relentless and personal criticism from the Kiwi media.
Asked if he would consider leading the Lions for a third straight tour in South Africa in 2021, Gatland said. “I’m done and I wouldn’t subject myself to that.
“I hated the tour. I did. I just hated the press and the negativity in New Zealand. When I look back on it now there were a lot of things that were satisfying. It was a great achievement, but it was tough work. The coaches and back-room staff worked their absolute b******s off and then to have someone come out and make a comment like Sean's really, really did hurt.
“What I’ve learned from my Lions’ experiences is how difficult it is to put some continuity together in terms of people and staff.
“It's time to let someone else do it, time to let someone else reinvent the wheel.”
Gatland was Lions forwards coach when Sir Ian McGeechan's team were beaten by the Springboks in 2009, but led the best of Britain and Ireland to success in Australia in 2013.
He followed that by holding the All Blacks to a 1-1 stalemate – the best result in the country since 1971. That failed to stop flanker O'Brien from slamming the tactics of Gatland and assistant boss Rob Howley. The Leinster forward suggested the Lions were overworked in the build-up to their first Test at Eden Park and would have won the series 3-0 with a better coaching set-up.
Gatland admits O'Brien's comments stung, but didn’t hold back with his response.
He said: “I don’t know what planet Sean is on, but I was on a different tour to him if he thought we should have won comfortably. I thought his comments saying we should have won 3-0 were disrespectful to New Zealand.
“I was disappointed and I have to be honest, it took a bit of the gloss off the tour. If Sean wanted to say something, then there is a different forum other than being critical.
“No-one has ever in the history of the game taken on a tour of that magnitude. Did we learn as coaches from that experience? Would we have done some things differently? Of course, we would. That’s part of coaching, part of the experience. If he was going to make some comments, then he could have done so in a different way.”
O'Brien started all three Tests against New Zealand, scoring in the series opener in Auckland for a try widely acknowledged as one of the best in Lions' history.
“There’s no doubt Sean had a fantastic tour. He played exceptionally well and his contribution on the playing field was excellent,” Gatland said. “From a leadership point of view he contributed extremely well and it’s only fair to acknowledge that.
“But if you take 41 players on tour you’re not going to keep everyone happy. There are going to be players disappointed and I understand that because it's the nature of professional sport.
“Sean spoke about Johnny Sexton and Owen Farrell taking responsibility which is strange because as a coach that is what you want. You want to empower your most experienced players.
“You want them to take ownership and responsibility. When you coach a young side, you give them a lot of direction, a lot of information. The more experience they get, the more you pull back.
“Ironically, I see that as a compliment. That’s what good coaching is about, giving players the decision-making responsibility. You want them to take control of moves, tactics and calls.”
Asked if he'd spoken to O'Brien since his public criticism, Gatland added: “I rang and left a message to say I was disappointed. He texted me three weeks later to say that he had just cleared his voicemail. I texted to say he could call me at any time, but I’ve not heard back from him.”
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