Ah lads! The lads thing we wanted to do was give the Welsh another reason to beat us.
After Shaun Edwards lit the kindling recently with his thoughts on the choke tackle in rugby, the roaring flame had quenched to steaming cinders after both sides heaped praise on their respective opponents in Cardiff this weekend.
But former Irish International Neil Francis has thrown petrol-soaked sods of turf back onto the bonfire today, with some pretty sensational comments about Welsh coach Warren Gatand, and the folks across the channel aren’t best pleased.
Writing in his Irish Independent column, Francis laid into the former Irish boss, reproducing his killer line from the eve of the tournament, that Gatland has “the intellectual properties of a tub of flora.”
A pretty funny line, we’ll grant him that.
Francis also laid into the “nepotism” shown by the him while coaching the Lions in 2013, citing the 10 Welsh plaers picked by him during the third and final test in 2013. “Gatland’s employers the WRU would remember red-coloured largesse in his contract re-negotiations.”
The quotes haven’t gone down well in Wales, with one of Gatland’s coaches, Rob Howley, speaking of his disappointment at the piece: “The wonderful thing about rugby is everyone is entitled to their opinion about how the game should be played and about personalities within the game.
“When it becomes personal it becomes very disappointing and the game is bigger than that.
“It’s a players game and for someone to have an individual criticism and a personal snipe on someone who has won a Lions series and been involved with Grand Slams and Six Nations Championships is very disappointing to happen within our game.”
Expect a bit of niggle this Saturday, then.
