British and Irish Lions 2017: Warren Gatland admits Lions 'shot ourselves in the foot' in late defeat by Highlanders

Two late penalties went on to cost the Lions 10 points and condemned Gatland's side to a second defeat in four matches in New Zealand

Warren Gatland reacts tot he British and Irish Lions' 23-22 defeat by the Highlanders (Getty)

The British and Irish Lions side that suffered defeat by the Highlanders were guilty of “shooting ourselves in the foot”, according to head coach Warren Gatland after letting a nine-point lead disappear into a second loss on the tour of New Zealand.

Gatland was left to rue two late penalties against his side that allowed the Highlanders to score 10 points in the final 20 minutes and secure a famous 23-22 victory over a Lions side that has now conceded six tries in just four matches.

There were positives to take from the performance, not least the fact that the Lions scored three tries with the last of which coming from captain Sam Warburton to put them 22-13 to the good, but the fact that a Highlanders side that was missing nine first-team players through international call-ups and injuries was able to fight its way back into the game should be of grave concern to the Lions head coach.

“I think the guys are disappointed,” Gatland said after the match. “We put ourselves in a position at 22-13 to control that game and win it. The unfortunate thing is we probably shot ourselves in the foot haven’t we with some turnovers and some penalties towards the end of the game and have allowed them the opportunity to sneak it from us.

“We are disappointed but there were some big moments, some key moments we need to work from and improve and make sure that we are better next time that we take the field.

“The big lesson about New Zealand sides is they keep playing for 80 minutes and they keep going for the full 80 minutes and that’s probably the big learning some of the players got from tonight.”

The defeat raises questions over the suitability of the players involved to force their way into what is quickly emerging as Gatland’s chosen Test side. Beyond Warburton and CJ Stander, who were playing due to the former’s return from injury and latter’s need to cover the absent Ross Moriarty, most of this side are unlikely to feature in the first Test against the All Blacks.

It would appear to demonstrate a gulf between Gatland’s first and second XVs, though the Kiwi was adamant that despite eight of these players starting in the defeat by the Blues six days ago, they are not proving to be a lower calibre than those that face the Crusaders on Saturday night.

“No I think it was tough on these guys in that there has been a quick turnaround for them in terms of having Wednesday and then travelling Thursday so they haven’t had a lot of time together and this being a Tuesday fixture,” Gatland added.

“There hasn’t been a lot of training time for that group with the guys whereas the Crusaders [side] have had a bit of time together. The thing is every team’s different about the way that they play and I thought we probably learned a little bit tonight in terms of how I thought our kicking game was excellent on Saturday and then the Highlanders’ kicking strategy stressed us a little bit.

Both Tommy Seymour and Jack Nowell struggled to deal with the amount of ball that was kicked to the wing, although the one contest that Seymour did take cleanly produced a fantastic try for the Lions as he leapt through the air to catch Lima Sopoaga’s cross-field kick to sprint 40 metres and score.


 Sam Warburton made his return from injury against the Highlanders 
 (Getty)

Warburton was not about to single out anyone on his side fort criticism though, and instead put the blame at the feet of the squad for conceding too many penalties and allowing pressure to be built on them, with the Lions penalised eight times in the second half, twice the number on the first 40 minutes.

“Gats alluded to it, there was a string of four penalties and when you're giving away field position, 40, 50 yards every time it hurts you,” Warburton said. “So I think, if you had to look back, I wouldn't blame it on one instance but there was a string of too many penalties that we gave away.”

The flanker came through another 68 minutes on his return from injury, and looks to be winning the battle to prove his fitness for the first Test against the All Blacks a week on Saturday, having had his progress on this tour set back by an ankle injury that has now seen him play 135 minutes in the last 11 weeks.