Clowntime is over. Whatever the result on Saturday, Warren Gatland will finish the series against New Zealand with his coaching reputation encased in cement a month after an aside he made at the end of a media conference at which his methods had been questioned, which cursed the need for him to keep defending himself, was picked up on tape recorders and printed.
Some in the New Zealand media were quick to write off Gatland as a failure, despite his success with Wasps, Waikato and Wales, after the British & Irish Lions made a juddering start to the tour. That was a surprise, given the side virtually walked off the plane to the first match and were still acclimatising when they faced the Blues, never mind still gelling as a squad and a coaching team. It shows how in a time of instant judgment it sometimes pays to sit back and reflect.
Related: Lions reinvigorated by jet-boating, bungee jumping and the odd beer | Robert Kitson
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