Warren Gatland hopes Waikato can do Lions a favour

Warren Gatland knows a Lions tour from both sides of the fence. He understands the furious motivation of those who play against the Lions, knowing it to be an opportunity unlikely to recur because the touring side only come by every 12 years, and now he is discovering the hazards of putting together the disparate elements that comprise the best of the home unions.
Gatland was captain of the exceptional Waikato XV that put the Lions to the sword 38-10 in the penultimate match of the 1993 series in New Zealand. This week he became the second New Zealander - Graham Henry, in 2001, was the first - to help to prepare a Lions XV for a tour.
This year's Lions begin in Rustenburg on Saturday against the Royal XV, a conglomerate drawn from the Griquas, Leopards and Pumas, based respectively in Kimberley, Potchefstroom and Witbank. The Lions' first opponents include half-a-dozen players with Super 14 experience, notably at half back where Naas Olivier and Sarel Pretorius will direct the Royal XV at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace. The selection is dominated by the Griquas, winners in 2007 of the Vodacom Cup and semi-finalists last year; they have 11 players in the starting XV but the Leopards provide the captain in Wilhelm Koch, the flanker related to the Springbok prop, Chris Koch, who played against the 1955 Lions.
As head coach of Wales, Gatland has enjoyed lobbing verbal stones at the opposition in the build-up to matches, although his suggestion in March that the Welsh hate the Irish rebounded badly when Ireland completed their grand slam in Cardiff. Here there will be no hostages to fortune; the coaching staff have their work cut out building the togetherness essential to success, starting with three matches on unyielding surfaces on the high veld. But Gatland will also keep an eye on his old mates from Waikato, who, as the Chiefs, contest the Super 14 final in Pretoria on Saturday. If they beat the Bulls they bring down the team likely to provide the biggest representation to the Springboks.
Having a team in the Super 14 final is an advantage, players will come into the Springbok squad with real confidence,” the Lions forwards coach said. “But we have a group of players who have achieved things in the Heineken Cup [although the seven players involved in last weekend's European finals will not play on Saturday].”
He understands, too, the need for the Lions to go back to basics. A year ago, Gatland brought Wales to South Africa for two internationals thinking he could pick up where he had left off after their 2008 grand slam, but the ten-week break had to be made up. Wales were well beaten in the first international, improved hugely a week later and then nearly beat the world champions at the Millennium Stadium in November.
“Bringing a group of players together like this, you're starting from scratch,” Gatland said. “So we're very pleased with the progress we made in our first week together. If we thought it was hopeless, we shouldn't be here - you have to have that desire, ambition and self-belief that you can put a performance together.”
Royal XV
R Jeacocks; E Seconds, D van Rensburg, H Coetzee, B Basson; N Olivier, S Pretorius; A Buckle, R Barnes, B Roux, R Mathee, J Lombaard, W Koch, D Raubenheim, J Mokuena. Replacements: P van der Westhuizen, S Roberts, R Landman, R W Kember, V Coetzee, R Viljoen, V Bowles.
Source:The times