Warren Gatland knows pragmatism is the order of the day and is willing to sacrifice entertainment to topple South Africa
Seldom does the thin line between success and failure feel slimmer than in the tense final days of a tight British & Irish Lions series. Even by the brutal standards of elite rugby it is knife-edge territory. “As I always say there’s nowhere in between,” murmured Warren Gatland this week. “It’s agony or ecstasy.”
And at international level, perhaps more so than in most sports, that increasingly means playing the percentages. It is easy enough for onlookers to suggest this series decider needs to be an uplifting spectacle for the wider sport’s sake but Gatland strongly suspects entertainment is not currently sitting atop South Africa’s priority list. “I don’t think they care. I think they just want to win.”
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