British & Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland says he didn’t want to “devalue” the jersey by using his bench against the Hurricanes.
Gatland used just two substitutes in Leigh Halfpenny and Finn Russell at Westpac Stadium, with the pair coming on for injured duo Robbie Henshaw and Dan Biggar, the latter while he was undergoing a head injury assessment.
That means that in the two recent midweek games on the tour, the British & Irish Lions have opted to not call upon any of their controversial replacements unless absolutely necessary, with Gatland explaining the reason why.
“So much was made about devaluing the jersey, so we made a decision we would try and get through the game with as many of the starting XV as we could,” he said following their drawn game against the Super Rugby side.
“I understand people’s views, so you’ve got to take cognizance of that.
“So we make a collective decision that we make them injury or HIA (head injury assessment) replacements, which is what happened on two occasions.”
When speaking of the 31-31 draw in general, Gatland was pleased with the performance of hard-working lock Iain Henderson but refused to be drawn if he had forced his way into the Test reckoning for Wellington this weekend.
“He carried fantastically well,” he said.
“Courtney Lawes carried well too in the first half. It’s a position right from the start where we knew we had a lot of strength.
“It’s a toss-up in terms of selection. Those two guys had really strong games tonight to give us some real food for thought.”
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