Warren Gatland Fires Back At Critics After Crusaders Win

A lot of people had written us off.

The Lions got their tour back on track this morning win a win over the Crusaders, thanks to an excellent defensive performance.

Warren Gatland’s men brought some much needed structure to their game, dominating possession with an excellent set-piece in the scrum and lineout.

Heading into the game, the Lions were already being written off by some critics, with the bookies making them underdogs. Gatland however says it’s all about preparation and they will keep getting better.

“We needed that didn’t we?” Gatland told Sky Sports.

“It was always about the result, the performance was pleasing in terms of they’ve been averaging five tries a game and defensively we were outstanding.

“We trained well, we knew we would get a good performance, every time we get together the better we will get. It just keeps on coming at us and it’ll give us a great preparation for the All Blacks.

“They’ve had a bit more time together, the first couple of games were rusty. It’s like a club in pre-season, it takes a bit of time, it’s not going to happen straight away.

“It was a tryless game but we created a couple of chances. They’re being talked about as potential Super Rugby champions and everyone was talking about this being a fourth Test.

“A lot of people had written us off, there had been a lot of criticism but it’s all about preparation for the Test series because that’s the most important.”

As for the All Blacks, Gatland is worrying about them just yet.

“I’m not really worried about them at the moment.

“We’re concentrating on a tough game versus Highlanders on Tuesday and then the Maori All Blacks on Saturday.

“There’s some stuff we’ve got to work on that we’re not showing yet because you’ve got to hold something back for the Test series.