Gatland pins semi hopes on returning All Blacks

Waikato NPC rugby coach Warren Gatland believes returning All Blacks will make a huge difference to his side, which have now lost two matches in a row.

Gatland said he expected Jono Gibbes, Byron Kelleher, Sione Lauaki and Sitiveni Sivivatu to all join Marty Holah, who played in Saturday night's 30-40 loss to Auckland, for Saturday's Ranfurly Shield challenge against Canterbury.

Gibbes, plagued by a slight tissue tear on the bottom of his foot since the New Zealand Maori beat the Lions over three months ago, has not played since the test series against the Lions.

Recently Gibbes aggravated the injury at training and it seemed his rugby year might be over, but Gatland said it was likely he would start Gibbes this week and, unless there was a further tear, it was a case of the Chiefs skipper coping with some pain.

The coach expected the returning players -- all key team individuals -- to make a huge impact on his side, more so than other teams getting their internationals back.

"I don't think if you bring back the All Blacks back into that Auckland side they'd make a massive difference in improving that Auckland performance," Gatland said. "But those key individuals make a huge difference to us."

Waikato have four matches left in the first division round-robin, playing Canterbury and North Harbour away, then Bay of Plenty and Otago at home.

Gatland said they had to win three of the four to make the semifinals. Therefore, the emphasis this week would be on getting NPC points in Christchurch, with the Shield treated as a bonus.

"We're not putting ourselves under too much pressure and I think the Shield challenge will take care of itself."

Meanwhile, he expressed concern that Auckland coach Pat Lam spoke to referee Gary Wise at halftime in Saturday night's match.

Lam was upset that it appeared Wise ignored his touch judges' advice on at least four occasions in the first half that Waikato defenders were offside.

Lam was open about his approach afterwards, saying he had not given Wise a blast but had asked why he was not listening to the touch judges. "He just said it was his call."

But Gatland said that while he did not want to make a huge issue of it, it was a practice that could get out of hand if left unchecked.

"I'm quite happy for a captain to relay messages but it was not like (having) a word, it was more like having a go. It was not just a quiet word, it was more like a criticism of the refereeing performance at halftime and that can influence a ref.

"I'm not happy with that at all. In the past it was a big problem in the UK and we had to go to the lengths of putting security guards on referees' doors to stop opposition coaches getting in at halftime."

Gatland said he was happy with Wise's performance and pointed out the touch judges were local referees who had ignored some blatant Auckland offsides in the second half.

- NZPA