Bryn Gatland's weirdly accurate prediction made on the eve of Super Rugby Aotearoa
Bryn Gatland’s prediction was eerily accurate.
The Highlanders first-five kicked a last-minute drop goal to secure a dramatic win against the much fancied Chiefs in Dunedin last night and, incredibly, foretold the series of events at dinner with his dad, Chiefs coach Warren Gatland, at dinner earlier in the week.
Gatland only earned himself a spot on the Highlanders bench for the Super Rugby Aotearoa opener due to an injury to Josh Ioane. He discovered the news on Thursday but had kept it from his father, until he had dinner with his parents that night.
“It was a bit of a different situation for me really,” laughed Bryn after the match.
“I found out on Thursday and then had dinner last night with him and mum.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBYPLVSAoKv/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
“Halfway through dinner he got a text and he looked at me and said: ‘Are you on the bench tomorrow?’
“I didn’t want to give the gameplan away!”
After the match, Warren Gatland snr gave his perspective on the dinner.
“I looked at him and I went, ‘Are you on the bench tomorrow?’ And he said, ‘I am’.
“I said OK. He wasn’t going to tell me, which was good.
“And then we had a joke, and he said, ‘I’ve got a feeling I’m going to come on and kick the winning drop goal’.
“And it ended up happening. I just went and saw him afterwards.
“I’m not happy about the result, but he showed a bit of calmness there, and he’s done that in the past and won games in clutch moments.
“Unfortunately we gave him that opportunity and in fairness he was able to step up to the plate and deliver for them.”
The 25-year-old’s efforts in the 79th minute was met with a raucous reception under the roof of Forsyth Barr Stadium, and pundits on Twitter joined in on the jubilation – and dejection – as the hosts rejoiced following a tensely-fought battle.
Imagine being Bryn Gatland – you’ve disappointed the Prime Minister and your Dad.
— Michael Colhoun (@michaelcolhoun) June 13, 2020
In 2017, Bryn Gatland played an absolute blinder for NZ Provincial Barbarians against the British Lions coached by his dad. They’d lose 13-7.
Today he goes one further & kicks the winning drop goal against his dad’s heavily favoured Chiefs in the #Aotearoa opener. Extraordinary.
— Runningflyhalf (@Runningflyhalf) June 13, 2020
Bryn Gatland scored the drop goal to beat the Warren Gatland coached Chiefs.
In unrelated news Bryn is now out of Warren’s will.— Sanjay Patel (@spat106) June 13, 2020
Sure Bryn Gatland’s performance was great but how about these 2 blokes behind him on the beers during the post match interview? pic.twitter.com/DyBsDJHT1x
— Steve Lenthall (@steve_l15) June 13, 2020
It was Gatland’s first game in 13 months after injuring his foot against the Sunwolves in Tokyo last year, and he tried to play down his heroics.
“Often those things come pretty late in the game, so once we got behind on the scoreboard by a drop goal margin, the plan was to get the ball back and get into an area where you win a penalty or land a drop goal,” he said.
“It just happened to fall on our side.
“It was a wee but wonky, a wee bit left to right and I was pretty lucky to get that over, and I was just happy to get on the field.
“The credit goes to the team on how they performed.”
Highlanders No 8 Mikaele-Tu’u put on a show in the Super Rugby Aotearoa opener in Dunedin.
Foster may have his future AB No.8
– writes @alexshawsport ???https://t.co/57d6FWWiHl
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 13, 2020
For all the late drama, rugby’s return in the deep south after a three-month shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic was not an immediate success from a spectacle perspective as both teams grappled to come to grips with the referee’s new focus on the breakdown.
Tonight at least, the Highlanders won’t complain after their campaign got off to the perfect start. In the end, having scored three tries to two and enjoying the better of the contest, they fully deserved their win after also surviving two yellow cards.
Comments on RugbyPass
The rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
75 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
9 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
9 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
9 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
9 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
9 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
2 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to comments