Warren Gatland said concerns over Johnny Sexton's "durability" lay behind one of his "toughest decisions" in omitting the veteran flyhalf from the upcoming British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa. "When we looked that we are going to South Africa, the thing that we kept coming back to is Johnny's durability and being able to put a string of big matches together consecutively," the New Zealander added. But Gatland, ahead of his third tour as Lions head coach, was in no doubt of their quality. "I think South Africa have gone back to their DNA," he said. "I'm only concentrating on the rugby side, not the gunboats and the other stuff that's going on," said Gatland.

Source: News 24 May 07, 2021 07:07 UTC