Warren Gatland

Gatland has a warning for English Rugby

Players from around the globe have been attracted to play in England's Premiership as a result of the large amounts of money being offered.

But Gatland told The Rugby Paper allowing foreign players to shine could ultimately be at the expense of the national side.

"You can understand people doing the best for their clubs and competitions, but you have to look at the bigger picture. What drives rugby globally is the international game. They're the things we need to consider and protect," he said.

Gatland cost us series - O'Brien

The Irish flanker said the team was over-trained ahead of the first test, which the All Blacks won 30-15, and the drawn third test.

"To be honest, I'd be pretty critical of it because I think we should have won the tour and we probably should have won it comfortably," O'Brien said in an interview with OffTheBall.com.

Lions unchanged for All Blacks decider

After being comfortably beaten in the first Test, Gatland made changes for the second match and it brought the desired result as the tourists recorded a 24-21 win.

And they will all get the chance to finish the job at Eden Park after the Lions coach named an unchanged squad.

That means Sam Warburton will again lead the Lions, with Maro Itoje and Alun Wyn Jones set to renew their outstanding partnership in the second row.

Your Lions to face @AllBlacks in the series decider are...

Gatland concerned by targeting of Lions scrum-half Murray

Murray's box kicking has been an effective weapon throughout his career but Gatland felt the Ireland number nine took some unnecessarily rough treatment as he put boot to ball from the base of rucks and scrums during the All Black's 30-15 victory on Saturday.

Speaking at a news conference, Lions coach Gatland said: "The one concern for me was, a couple of times from Conor Murray, there was a charge-down where someone dived at his legs which was a little bit dangerous.

Gatland questions All Blacks' bench

Both coaches sprung surprises in naming their starting XVs for the eagerly anticipated clash at Auckland's Eden Park on Saturday.

The inclusion of fit-again Kieran Read ahead of Ardie Savea was to be expected, but Steve Hansen has also opted for Ryan Crotty and Rieko Ioane at outside centre and left wing respectively, taking the places of Anton Lienert-Brown and try-machine Julian Savea.

"I'm not sure, looking at their bench, that it is as strong as it has been in the past," Gatland said of the 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cup winners.

Crusaders game holds huge implications for Lions

The visitors delivered an unconvincing win against the semi-professional Provincial Barbarians in their opening game and on Wednesday lost to the Blues, New Zealand's worst-performing Super Rugby side this season.

The Crusaders always loomed as the toughest opponents of the opening 10 days and Gatland has decided to field what appears to be the strongest Lions side yet in a bid avoid what would be a dispiriting second defeat so early on the tour.

Jones doubts Lions can win

The Lions face a daunting task as they take on the world champions on their own soil across June and July, having suffered a whitewash on their last visit.

Jones claims Wales boss Gatland's approach will be too rigid to get the better of the All Blacks, who are heavy favourites to triumph.

"I think it's going to be very tough for them [the Lions]," Jones told The Telegraph.

"They picked their squad to play a certain style based on the influence of Wales.

VIDEO: 2015 Rugby World Cup - Wales battle past Fiji, France thrash Canada

Wales took a huge step closer to the World Cup quarter-finals by beating Fiji 23-13 in an epic Pool A clash at the Millennium Stadium.

Over in Pool D, France closed in on a quarter-finals spot after scoring five tries in a 41-18 win against Canada.

 

Rugby World Cup 2015: Consider longer turnarounds, says Gatland

Wales face Fiji on Thursday having had only four days to recover from their bruising win against England.

Gatland will not use it as an excuse during this World Cup but believes it is an issue which needs to be addressed in the long term.

"It's something we all need to be aware of because it's a pretty brutal game at the moment," he said.

"It's important we consider and look after the welfare of our players as well.

"I'm not complaining about the short turnaround because we've known about that for a long time. We've had to prepare for that."