A week into the British & Irish Lions training camp in Jersey and you get the sense that in more private moments – the inevitable headaches that come with overseeing a tour during a pandemic notwithstanding – Warren Gatland is allowing himself a smile.
In the coming days his ranks will be bolstered by the arrivals of the Saracens quintet and the losing Premiership semi-finalists, taking the number of players in the squad preparing to face Japan next Saturday above 30. For context, four years ago he was forced to conduct an initial camp with not even enough players to form a XV. He may not quite be the cat who got the Jersey cream, but evidently progress has been made.
Gatland spoke out when he feared Premiership clubs would restrict the number of players available to him on the Channel island but he has his way and though there are one or two positions in which he has been short – namely hooker, hence the temporary secondment of Rónan Kelleher, and fly-half – there has been a strong if distinctly Celtic core to his squad, with Courtney Lawes and Anthony Watson the only Englishmen involved.
How many of those arriving imminently will be involved against Japan is unclear – you sense they would be at a disadvantage but Gatland will most likely need to involve the Saracens hooker Jamie George in some capacity. But even if he allows most of them time to get their feet under the table he still has numerous players with Lions Test experience at his disposal, including the captain, Alun Wyn Jones, Taulupe Faletau, Conor Murray, Watson, Liam Williams, Lawes, Justin Tipuric and Tadhg Furlong.
The match against Japan in Edinburgh was arranged primarily for financial reasons and though profits will clearly be limited with only 25% capacity possible, it does provide Gatland with an early gauge of progress. It will be an acid test according to Furlong, who highlights the balance players coming together from the four nations have to strike in the early days.
A consistent message from the players has been that Covid‑19 bubble restrictions will help team-bonding – an admirably optimistic view – and there has been ample opportunity for them to break bread in Jersey off the field. Some traditions remain even in a pandemic so no doubt something stronger to wash it down with, too.
But perhaps more tricky, according to Furlong, is forging the required relationships on the field, particularly in the more technical areas such as the scrum. “You don’t want to be ramming your views down players’ or coaches’ throats if you’ve not worked with them before,” the Ireland prop says.
“There’s no right or wrong in rugby, it’s how you commit to it and there are so many views on how many ways to play the game and there are so many intricacies. If you can add something it’s great but it’s early days and you want to see what we’re trying to achieve as a group.
“[The scrum] needs to be simultaneous … muscle memory, you need to feel comfortable knowing what you’re at and it just takes a little bit of time. It’s on the players really to be a bit … not vulnerable, but open about what they’re doing and what they’re trying to achieve when they’re back with their countries or their provinces.”
From a scrummaging point of view, Furlong has the benefit of working with the Lions forwards coach, Robin McBryde, daily at Leinster. He is competing with Zander Fagerson and Kyle Sinckler, an injury replacement for Andrew Porter, for a place in the Lions Test team and again Furlong emphasises the balance between competition and cooperation.
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Even in Sinckler’s case Furlong is conflicted: on one hand delighted for the Bristol player , with whom he struck up a rapport four years ago, but on the other gutted for Porter, his Leinster and Ireland teammate. “It’s tough on Andrew Porter. I was on the floor for him because I know how hard he worked,” says Furlong.
“But that said, I get on well with Sincks and power to him. He had some adversity and I know he spoke about it. He’s on the rebound now and sport is like that sometimes. You’re competing, of course you are, but at the same time you want the team to do well.
“We have a lot to learn in terms of lineouts, set-piece, attack, defence and you try to get on the same page and help each other out, especially in these early days. You’re not trying to do another fella over.”