British and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland says he has buried the hatchet with Sean O’Brien after the pair spoke to clear the air.
In an interview with OffTheBall.com after arriving back from the tour O’Brien criticised the preparations in advance of the first Test.
The Tullow tank also expressed the view that Lions attack coach, Rob Howley was unclear in his instructions and struggled to get his message across to the players.
In another stinging criticism of the coaches O’Brien claimed that they should have beaten the world champions, 3-0 and perhaps would have if they were better drilled.
Speaking at Off The Ball's Rugby Roadshow, Gatland admitted that the side were not as well prepared as they could have been:
“He rang me and said he was disappointed how things were reported that people just picked up the negatives and there were lots of positives about the tour.
“There were a couple of points I put to him, I said Sean you came and didn’t train for the first few weeks and then you’ve made a statement to say you were in the best shape of your life by the end of the tour. We must’ve done something right to get you in the best shape of your life.”
Gatland says lessons were learned and admits there was some merit in what O’Brien said, but the New Zealander says the Ireland international should've have come to him face to face with issues instead of going to the media:
“We were a bit heavy legged and I was a bit pissed off with myself reflecting and having a look back on our preparation for that first test. Not because of the training but we’d been in ten hotels in two weeks.
“We had a good chat and I said I don’t have any problems with him, I just thought there was a better forum to address it then that.”
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