Even Phileas Fogg would have struggled had he been involved in modern-day rugby union. One day Warren Gatland is in London talking up the Lions, the next he is en route to Japan for the 2019 Rugby World Cup draw. Next week he has to be back in Wales, the week after it is Ireland followed by a long wintry trek around New Zealand. If it is Wednesday, it must be Kyoto, in theory at least.
There will be precious little relaxation at 39,000 feet either, if the pool draw takes on a deathly complexion once more. As Gatland observed: “Probably the team you don’t want to get is the All Blacks. Everyone else you wouldn’t mind.” He was smiling when he said it but pretty much every other international head coach below the top four seeds will be thinking likewise.
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