Lions staff member was in hot water after tweet slamming boss resurfaced online
The incident unfolded while the Lions were on their 2021 tour of South Africa, fresh off a victory against the Springboks in the first Test of the series. The team was engaging in some light-hearted trivia to relax when the old tweet came back to haunt the staff member.
The revelation came after Gatland, who had just seen his team win 22-17 in Cape Town, spoke about the camaraderie within the squad: "The players have been unbelievable, the staff as well," he said. "We had a quiz night last Thursday that [strength and conditioning coach] Huw Bennett had put together which was great fun, taking the Mickey out of a lot of the staff members.
"One of the staff members had tweeted some stuff about me about eight or nine years ago, which wasn't too complimentary and he was mortified when it came up as one of the quiz questions.
"I knew it was coming, it didn't bother me, I just laughed and got up and said, 'Whoever made that tweet is on the effing plane tomorrow so pack your bag!' He was mortified for the next hour."
The identity of the coach in question is still unknown. However, their situation may serve as a warning about the dangers of players being too active on social media when it comes to potential employers. Gatland speaking to his Lions squad during the 2021 tour (Image:)
The 2021 Lions needed all the unity they could gather against the consecutive world champions. Ultimately, South Africa managed to overturn the series by winning the last two Tests.
Fast forward to the present day and it's Andy Farrell who has to handle such issues as the Lions head coach. The Ireland boss served as Gatland's deputy during previous Lions tours in 2013 and 2017, where they triumphed over Australia and drew with New Zealand, respectively.
There might be members of his own coaching staff who have previously made critical comments about Farrell. However, the likelihood of this is perhaps reduced given that he has filled his coaching team with colleagues from the Ireland camp.
Farrell, 50, has faced criticism from some quarters of the rugby community after selecting his son Owen halfway through the tour. The 112-cap England international was injured or out of form for most of last season at French club Racing 92. Andy Farrell is now in charge of the British and Irish Lions (Image:)
Owen, 33, won't participate against the First Nations and Pasifika XV when the Lions play their final 'friendly' in Australia on Tuesday. This is before they challenge Australia in Melbourne this Saturday, with an opportunity to secure an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the series. However, head coach Farrell is keen to learn from his past experiences.
'We do take encouragement from the display, but at the same time we know what is coming,' head coach Farrell said after his team's win over Australia. 'We know what happened in the second half here and we roll into the second game knowing full well what happened in 2013.
'When an Australia team becomes desperate, it is difficult to handle, so we expect a different game next weekend. Not only was this Australia's second game and they'll be much better because of that, but also because of what it means to them and how proud they are. It'll mean the world to them.
'We need to make sure we are ready for them to be at their best. It will take a better performance than what we've shown here to make sure we get a win next week.'
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