British and Irish Lions boss Warren Gatland: ‘We’ve learnt from our mistakes and are getting stronger ahead of All Blacks Tests’ – LISTEN
Warren Gatland was pleased with his side's dominance as the British and Irish Lions defeated the Maori All Blacks 32-10 in Rotorua, and hopes the strong performances stands them in good stead for their opening Test against New Zealand.
A penalty try and further score from Maro Itoje led the tourists to their most impressive win of their tour of New Zealand so far.
MATCH REPORT: Maori All Blacks 10-32 British and Irish Lions: Tourists dominate in Rotorua
Leigh Halfpenny's six penalties and flawless 20-point haul from the boot underpinned a muscular triumph, with the tourists’ dominant at the set-piece and all tight exchanges.
The Lions have just one game to play before facing the All Blacks in the first Test in Auckland, and Gatland was encouraged by what he saw from his team in Rotorua.
Speaking to talkSPORT following the game, the head coach said: “I’m really pleased with the performance.
“We keep saying that playing the quality of opposition we have been up against that we’ll learn from that and we’ll keep getting better and stronger as a unit, and I thought we were excellent tonight.
“I thought we squeezed the life out of them, and even the try they scored was a speculative one.
“Defensively we were strong, we weren’t under any pressure from some absolutely outstanding players. You’ve seen the way they perform for the super rugby sides, but they didn’t really cause us too many problems.
“I couldn’t be happier, we’ve got another game on Tuesday against the Chiefs which will be tough for us, and hopefully we’ll have another good week’s preparation for the All Blacks.”
When quizzed about his thoughts on the team to face the All Blacks in next Saturday's first Test, Gatland admitted he would have to have another look after Tuesday's match in Hamilton.
Asked how many names Gatland already had in his starting XI for next weekend's match, he replied: "I don't know yet, we've got to get through Tuesday yet. That's another big challenge for us. And then we can start thinking about next Saturday."