WARREN Gatland has played down the incident that saw England prop Joe Marler cited for shouting \u201cgypsy boy\u201d at opposite number Samson Lee.
\nMarler has been subjected to intense criticism since Saturday\u2019s test match, with many onlookers calling for the Harlequins prop to be given a lengthy ban.
\nHowever Welsh coach Gatland has played down the incident calling it \u2018banter\u2019.
\nHe said: \u201cIt was just a bit of banter as far as I\u2019m concerned. Joe\u2019s said look it was only a bit of fun.
\n\u201cHe said to him (Samson) at half time and Samson said he has no issues it\u2019s just banter on the rugby field.
\n\u201c15-20 years ago those things were sorted out with fists. I think we don\u2019t want to make a massive issue of it, we just want to put it to bed. I was more concerned with the forearm.
\n\u201cI think it\u2019s not just sport it\u2019s in every aspect of life where people get so PC and they just make a massive issue about things.
\n\u201cIt was just one of those things a little bit of banter, we\u2019ve accepted that, and accepted his apology and just moved on. It\u2019s not an issue for us.\u201d
\nGatland was also quick to defend prop Tomas Francis, who has been banned for eight weeks after gouging Leicester prop Dan Cole.
\n\u201cWhen you play it in real time the contact with the hand with the eye is a third of a second,\u201d argued Gatland.
\n\u201cIt doesn\u2019t look to me as if he\u2019s gone specifically for someone.
\n\u201cHe\u2019s closed his eyes, his heads in a different position, he\u2019s tried to clear Kruis from the top of Cole.
\n\u201cI saw it in slow motion and I thought that doesn\u2019t look good, that was my initial reaction, and I gave you an honest answer after the match.
\n\u201cBut having looked at some of the other views, and looking at it in real time those are questions you can ask about was it deliberate.
\n\u201cNormally if you’re going to grab someone\u2019s face, or go for someone\u2019s eye it’s going to be more than a third of a second.”
\nLast Saturday\u2019s defeat has come as a major blow to Warren Gatland\u2019s squad, with a lack of emotion and intensity in their game at the top of the post-match inquest.
\n\u201cI was a little bit disappointed with the emotion and what I meant by that is when you play at this level, it\u2019s about the emotional edge,\u201d said the 2013 British Lions coach.
\n\u201cThose things when you\u2019ve been involved in the game are measurable.
\n\u201cWhat I mean by that is that you can look line speed defensively, you look at kick chase, you look at getting back when the opposition have kicked.
\n\u201cYou look at the intent of running the first five metres, how quickly they get off the ground.
\n\u201cThose are things that are all measurable at this level.
\n\u201cSometimes if you\u2019re just a couple of per-cent off that at the very highest level it has an impact.
\n\u201cWe were just some percentage points off that in the first half against England, and we improved significantly in the second half.
\n\u201cI think we went from one stage at 20 odd minutes in that first half where England had 70% of territory and possession, but by the end of the game it was 50\/50.
\n\u201cOur second half performance was a hell of a lot better, we finished strongly.\u201d
\nThe former Waikato hooker has made four changes to his starting line-up for the visit of the Italians.
\nFit again scrum-half Rhys Webb replaces Scarlets nine Gareth Davies, while Hallam Amos gets his opportunity on the wing in place of Alex Cuthbert.
\nElsewhere, Luke Charteris replaces the injured Alun-Wyn Jones, and Justin Tipuric naturally replaces Sam Warburton who is out with concussion.
\nOn the bench,\u00a0Gloucester loose-forward Ross Moriarty comes in, along with Scarlets lock Jake Ball and Ospreys prop Aaron Jarvis.
\nGatland said: \u201cThree of those changes were forced on us. We wanted to give some players an opportunity, but also show some faith and give the players a chance to put behind them a disappointing first half last week.”
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WARREN Gatland has played down the incident that saw England prop Joe Marler cited for shouting \u201cgypsy boy\u201d at opposite number Samson Lee. Marler has been subjected to intense criticism since Saturday\u2019s test match, with many onlookers calling for the Harlequins prop to be given a lengthy ban. However Welsh coach Gatland has played down the incident calling it \u2018banter\u2019. He said: \u201cIt was just a bit of banter as far as I\u2019m concerned. Joe\u2019s said look it was only […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":248,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[151],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-10318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rugby"],"yoast_head":"\n