Rugby: Warren Gatland fumes after British and Irish Lions team leaked to media

Warren Gatland...looking for loose lips. Photo/Getty Images

Coach Warren Gatland is furious after his British and Irish Lions test team was leaked to the media.

The Times of London predicted the first test XV which would run out against the Springboks in Cape Town, including the dropping of stand-in captain Conor Murray to the bench.

National divisions and divided loyalties mean Lions teams can be tricky political animals to manage, as Graham Henry found out with the 2001 side in Australia.

Warren Gatland...looking for loose lips. Photo/Getty Images

Gatland brought the team announcement forward by a day after the leak and will change his announcement procedures for the remaining tests. He admitted someone's trust may have been broken.

The Times team had a slight error, getting the bench make-up wrong by one, but that didn't placate Gatland, the former All Black hooker who went on to coach Ireland and Wales.

The team had clearly been leaked because it contained the shock selection of Scotland's Ali Price at halfback ahead of Ireland's Murray, Gatland's surprise choice of tour captain when Alun Wyn-Jones was initially ruled out.

"It wasn't 100 per cent right but obviously someone has leaked that out," Gatland said.

"I don't know how it happened.

"Whether that is on purpose or accidentally or someone has betrayed someone's trust, whether that is a player or a staff member – what I will do next week is just name the team to the players then name the team to the press straight away."

The one Times inaccuracy was the selection of forward Iain Henderson on the bench, whereas Gatland opted for a traditional split with Liam Williams named as the third back.

The reserves also include Owen Farrell, the star England playmaker, who has missed out to Welshman Dan Biggar.