O'Brien slams Lions' coaching team

Sean O'Brien has blamed head coach Warren Gatland and his staff for the British and Irish Lions' failure to beat New Zealand this summer.

The series was drawn 1-1 after the decider in Auckland ended in a 15-15 draw, but the Ireland and Leinster flanker, who featured in all three Tests, believes Gatland and his attack coach Rob Howley managed the squad poorly.

"To be honest, I'd be pretty critical of it because I think we should have won the tour and we probably should have won it comfortably," O'Brien told Newstalk. 

"There's the best players in the world on a Lions tour. I know you are playing the best team in the world but with the quality and strength in depth we had, we probably should have won the tour."

O'Brien believes the Lions' coaching staff "panicked" and over-trained the squad in the opening week of the tour.

"It wasn't down to fatigue. It was probably management a bit, in terms of how our weeks went," the 30-year-old continued.

"The first week, we definitely over-trained on the Thursday and maybe the coaches were panicking a little bit about getting the information into us.

"On the first week [of the first Test], we had a triple [training] day, lads' legs were heavy on the Thursday and we were playing the All Blacks on Saturday.

"There was probably no need for that but it's just the way it was managed. We had said it, at the time, and they pulled back a bit."

O'Brien also suggests that Johnny Sexton and Owen Farrell took responsibility for the team's attacking tactics as Howley struggled to impose his philosophy on the players.

"If I was being critical of any coach it would be the fact that I think Rob struggled with the group in terms of his attributes of trying to get something across whereas Johnny and Owen drove everything the second week, for instance, in our attack and had a better plan in place," he continued.

"That's the hard thing about a Lions tour as well - getting everyone to listen to a coach who was probably set in his ways. 

"Coaching-wise they need to make sure they have the best coaches in the best positions, attack, defence, forwards, whatever it may be on a Lions tour.

"I'll have no qualms saying this to same coaches in four years' time. A hundred percent."

Image: Inpho/ Billy Stickland

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