Warren Gatland hits back at Sean O'Brien
Warren Gatland has revealed he was "hurt" by Sean O'Brien's criticism of the British and Irish Lions.
The Ireland flanker claimed that the squad had been over-trained in the build-up to Test matches and said the coaches struggled to get their message across in an interview with Off The Ball’s Oisin Langan.
Gatland branded O'Brien's claims as disrespectful and told Sky Sports that he was disappointed he didn't raise concerns to him personally.
The Wales head coach says he tried to discuss the Tullow Tank’s concerns with him, but was met by the cold shoulder:
“I texted to say he could call me at any time, but I've not heard back from him.
“The disappointing thing, I thought Sean's comments were disrespectful to New Zealand, saying that we should have comfortably won the series 3-0.
"I don't know what planet he is on, but I was on a different tour to him if he thought we should have won comfortably.
“I was disappointed. I have to be honest I think it took a bit of the gloss off the Lions tour.
“If he wanted to say something, then there is a different forum rather than being critical. No one has ever in the history of the game taken on a tour of that magnitude or difficulty.
“Did we learn as coaches from that experience? Would we have done some things differently? Of course we would.
"That's part of coaching, part of the experience. If he was going to make some comments, then he could have done so in a different way.
"You watch how hard the coaches and the back-room staff worked on that tour and then to have someone come out and make a comment like that... it really, really did hurt."
Throwback
