Pragmatic intent in taking on South Africa is clear in the coach’s selection of an experienced batch of players
Warren Gatland has insisted the squad he picked for the British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa would have looked different had the destination been New Zealand, and different again were it to be heading for Australia. It is always difficult to discern whether such claims are genuine or just easy soundbites to make a coach’s job sound more nuanced, but a quick glance at the age profile of this and previous squads suggests there may be something in it.
If the last cycle of Lions tours is anything to go by, the pattern is for old against the Springboks, youngish for the All Blacks and positively wet behind the ears for the Wallabies.
