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02 Apr, 2025
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Quiet Warren Gatland meeting plunged Wales rugby star into a 's***storm'
@Source: walesonline.co.uk
Jonathan Davies has revealed the quiet meeting he had with Warren Gatland before it plunged him into a "s***storm". As far as team selection goes, there aren't many more dramatic than when Davies started over Brian O'Driscoll on the Lions tour of Australia in 2013. O'Driscoll had started the first two Tests, but when Jamie Roberts returned to fitness, Gatland shifted Davies to outside centre and stuck Roberts in at 12 for the decider. The backlash from the rugby community was massive, with many outraged about the decision to drop the legendary O'Driscoll, but ultimately, the Lions would go on to win that Test 41-16 and secure the series. Speaking to Genting Casino about the whole incident, Davies explained that he didn't even think he was going to get selected, so sat back and relaxed after the second Test. "What I remember is, after the second Test we lost and flew up to Noosa, which is a beach town in the North of Australia, where we had a couple of days off," explained Davies. "I thought that on the Sunday I would go and have a couple of beers, then the next few days I would just relax. I didn't really think about it and accepted that someone who was playing in the 13 jersey had so much experience and they were going to pick him. "I remember getting called to the coaches' office on the Wednesday morning and I was thinking 'here it comes'. Then they started talking to me saying: 'how's your past couple of days been?', and I was pretending I hadn't pushed the boat out at all on the Sunday. "Then they kept chatting away and said: 'you're going to have to learn the role for the 13 move, you need to know what you're doing in the 13 shirt'. I was like: 'alright', and Gats was like: 'do you know what I'm saying?' - I was like: 'yep', and thought that there was going to be a real s***storm happening pretty soon." Davies also revealed that part of said s***storm was a Facebook page entitled 'Justice for BOD', which apparently had 500,000 likes. The Wales legend joked that his brother and former Wales star James was on the page. He added that he wouldn't change how it transpired, despite the backlash, because "at the end of that game, it was justified and we won the Test series.". Davies continued: "After the Captain's Run on the Friday (before the third Test), Gats asked me: 'how's it been?'. I said: 'it's been eventful', then he goes: 'yeah? just make sure you win now tomorrow and we'll be okay.' "It was a load of pressure, but I wouldn't change it because I think it made me perform at a better level as well. But it was something people always want to talk about for some reason - I don't know why. The team was announced to everyone and then we went straight on the bus to training. You know how the bus works, with senior boys at the back, so I was near the front at this point. Brian walks past, shakes my hand and carries on up to the back of the bus. "He showed up to training and we were talking about the reason we were all there as Lions is for the good of the team. The team was the most important thing and to be fair to him he left me to prepare for a Test match. It can't have been easy, when people are dropped, certain individuals found it tough and it is. You want to be involved in a test series decider and you want to play in the bigger games, that's the nature of everyone's competitive streak."
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