With four wins under his belt, Warren Gatland is now targeting a 100% record to take into the first Test against the Qantas Wallabies in Brisbane next week.
The British & Irish Lions head coach confessed to being happy with his side’s 10-try, 64-0 romp against the Combined Country XV in Newcastle and is eyeing two more wins over the Waratahs and brumbies to further boost confidence before the 125th anniversary tour series kicks-off at the Suncorp Stadium.
“We’re undefeated and, if we can win the next two games and arrive at Brisbane still undefeated, it will be a good, positive frame of mind to arrive in,” said Gatland.
“The game against the Combined XV was a lot of use. That team only had one training session together so there was some excellent stuff – and some average stuff as well. There were a few turnovers, but there was some excellent handling and offloading as well.
“I don’t think it helped with the continuity in terms of the number of changes that we made – that was difficult for the team as well. But there’s great harmony in the squad and the guys who didn’t play today worked really hard.”
Gatland expects Rob Kearney to be in the mix for selection against the Waratahs on Saturday in Sydney and new arrival Simon Zebo, who watched the game at the Hunter Stadium with his new team mates, could also get a run at the weekend or in Canberra next week against the Brumbies.
“Now that Simon’s here, we’ll try and involve him in some way and there’s a good chance that he might be involved in the next two games. Tommy Bowe is hopeful to be fit and available for the second Test and, at the moment, he will be staying with the squad.”
