Warren Gatland hits back at gutted Mike Brown after the England star airs disappointment at his British Lions snub for NZ tour
Tourists' coach says he is happy to take a call after Harlequins full-back bemoans the lack of feedback following his omission
WARREN GATLAND hit back at Mike Brown after the gutted England star went public over his Lions snub.
Next month’s series in New Zealand will be the 31-year-old’s final shot at being part of rugby’s greatest touring side.
Harlequins star Brown is unhappy at having no feedback from Gatland over his omission or even his chances of joining the squad if one of the full-backs gets injured.
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But the Lions boss rapped: “When we select a squad it’s not always about the rugby content.
“I can understand the frustration and the disappointment but there are a number of players in the same situation.
“That’s why we said if any player wants to call us or talk to any of the coaches, we are more than happy.
“I spoke to Graham Rowntree — the Lions and Harlequins coach — who said he spoke to Mike about the Lions.
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“But I am more than happy for Mike to give me a call if he feels he’s been hard done by.”
Brown, nicknamed Mr Angry, admitted his Lions omission hit him hard. He said: “I didn't take it well. I was gutted.
“I’ve had no feedback about being on stand-by either, which is also disappointing. So I’m not going to keep up false hopes.”
Gatland, who got his 41-man squad together for the first time in London yesterday, also had to do some fire-fighting with Saracens’ hierarchy over the scheduling of ‘messy Monday’ where the tourists collect their mountain of kit.
The tour starts with the first of six warm-up matches on June 3 ahead of the first of three Tests against the All Blacks in Auckland on June 24.
But unhappy Sarries boss Mark McCall said it was “unbelievable” that six of his players had to attend the meet-up five days before their Champions Cup final against Clermont.
Gloucester also had their captain Greig Laidlaw and flanker Ross Moriarty tied up during the build-up for Friday night’s Challenge Cup final against Stade Francais at Murrayfield.
Gatland said: “If it had been last week it would have potentially affected 22 clubs.
“I understand it’s a massive week for Saracens but Mondays tend to be a recovery day.
“Now, I don’t know when Saracens got this information but this date was communicated to the unions months and months ago and we haven't had any requests from anyone to move it.
“But I understand the situation and we are very grateful to Saracens and Gloucester for releasing players. If they hadn’t, it would have been very difficult for a number of reasons.”
Scotland scrum-half Laidlaw admitted he was in no mood to celebrate after his late call-up to join the Lions.
Leicester No 9 Ben Youngs pulled out to stay at home and support brother Tom, whose wife Tiffany is terminally ill with cancer.
Laidlaw, 31, admitted: “First and foremost everyone’s thoughts are with Tom, with Ben and the whole of the Youngs family, certainly within the Lions camp.
“I got the call on Saturday but it’s a great opportunity.
“I’m moving from Gloucester to Clermont next season so the house is getting packed up and I’m pretty busy on that front. But I’m delighted to be here and to get started.
“A week’s a long time in sport, straight off the back of a defeat with Gloucester we weren’t feeling too good about ourselves, then all of a sudden I’m pretty excited about this.”