Warren Gatland warns on risk of England players to Lions

British and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland believes picking too many English players for this year's tour of Hong Kong and Australia could cause problems because of the extra media focus and their unpopularity among other nations.

The New Zealander, who took the Six Nations clean sweep with Wales last year, takes charge of the combined side for the first time for the tour and has been impressed by England in their past three matches.

"At the moment, England are playing well. They did well in the autumn, particularly the outstanding victory against the All Blacks and, if they do well in the Six Nations, there will be a reasonable contingent of English players," Gatland said.

"But that brings a certain element of - how do I say it - other pressures that come with selecting a lot of English players. It becomes a much greater media focus from the English papers; potentially a negative focus from the Australian papers.

"English players are targeted by other countries. [They are] not always the most popular with other countries because of the history. People like having a pop at them."

England lost to France in the 2011 World Cup quarter-finals after a tournament marred by tabloid stories of drinking, partying and dwarf-throwing, while centre Manu Tuilagi jumped off a ferry as a joke.

"It's just being aware of potential issues that may arise," Gatland added. "We all know what happened with England at the World Cup and the circus that was created.

"I've just got to be aware of the possibilities that, if there are a number of English players on the tour, the same sort of things could be instigated, through stings through the media or set-ups trying to create controversy."

There was also further potential bad news for Samoa-born Tuilagi, with Gatland saying his coaching team have discussed whether players born outside Britain and Ireland really understood the magnitude of pulling on a Lions' shirt.

"That's a really interesting question. It's something that we've touched on. These are the sort of things that come into consideration when you finally select the squad," Gatland said.

He added that players such as England's Chris Ashton would not be excluded from the tour for being too "gregarious".

Gatland's comments were greeted with disbelief by several former England internationals including former skipper Bill Beaumont.

"I was lucky enough to be captain in 1980, Martin Johnson skippered the team to the famous 1997 series win, as well as leading the side for a historic second time, when going down to Australia," said Beaumont, who was capped 34 times by England from 1975-1982 and earned seven caps for the Lions.

"Wearing the Lions' shirt, whether captain or player, is something that all English players take very seriously. This will undoubtedly continue for those that get picked this time.

"It is well documented the strong culture and sense of responsibility on and off the pitch that this England team possesses. Those fortunate enough to get picked will of course take those attributes Down Under."

Reuters, Agence France-Presse