Well what about Wade and Barritt, then? If he was going to pick them then he obviously could have picked another person who isn't in Australia and who hasn't retired from top-flight rugby. As someone mentioned in a post, what about Ian Madigan? He was in North America just like Brad Barritt. And it's not like the backline is completely crippled by injuries. There are a few, but there are still plenty of players to fill the team. It's insulting to the people who are on tour.
Yeah, Gatland's Welsh bias has become even more evident. Like you said, there are loads of players that have their careers ahead of them that could have been called up, but instead he went for his old pal Shane who's already retired from top flight rugby. Maybe he could bring in Rob Howley to play at scrumhalf in the first test?
I wish you were right, but he'll never bench Warburton. He picked him as the captain of the tour in spite of his form and other seemingly better candidates, and essentially nothing has changed, so his choice won't change either. As well as that, not picking the tour captain is just not something you do. It would cause too much of a rift in the camp and lead to unwanted drama, as well as causing both the captain and coach to lose face and credibility. It's the same situation as Martin Johnson appointing Steve Borthwick as captain. He shouldn't have been even starting in the first place, but after making him captain he couldn't just drop him and so stuck with him even if there were better players in the squad.
That coach is an absolute dipshit. His players are singled out because they evidently don't tackle properly and because they punch people in the face. The red and second yellow were simply as clear as day, and it was hard to see what happened for the first but it looks like he ran into the guy's face with his elbow after the ball was gone, so if that's the case, obviously a yellow is in order. God, he's as bad as Brendan Venter.
