With Wales now preparing for the first of the Three-Test series which kicks off at Eden Park next Saturday, Gatland’s side will face an All Blacks squad with a host of unfamiliar names in it with the likes of Damian McKenzie, Ardie Savea, Elliot Dixon and Liam Squire seeing their fine Super Rugby form being rewarded with the ultimate prize – a black shirt with a silver fern on it.
While many suggest now is the time to strike with the All Blacks missing nearly 800 caps worth of international experience with post-World Cup retirements and players heading to Europe, Gatland played it cool when asked if he spotted any weaknesses in Steve Hansen’s first selection since winning back to back World Cups.
“You could describe it as being pretty arrogant if I talk about weakness in an All Black team”, he said.
“There is definitely real quality there. There isn’t going to be weakness, there is going to be players who haven’t had the same time together in the same combinations. If that’s perceived as weakness take it how you like, but there is never any weak All Black team as far as I’m concerned.
“What they achieved in winning their second World Cup in a row is pretty exceptional but what I admired about them was that they never panicked. If you look at a lot of those games they were behind either at halftime or with 10-15 minutes to go and that experience and belief in their structure and systems, got them across the line.
“We felt the brunt of that a couple of years ago when we led them with about 69 minutes on the clock and they scored a couple of tries in the last 10 minutes to win. That’s probably the level they’ve gone to in terms of they’ve not panicked, trusted themselves and trusted they’re going to get across the line. That often comes with a lot of players being together a long time.
“This is an interesting new squad for them. I know they’ve been talking about taking it to another level but potentially that takes a little bit of time as well.”
