Warren Gatland received a 'great welcome' from Stuart Lancaster and England coaching team despite Lions row I have frequently put on record my admiration for the way in which Stuart Lancaster has gone about his business since taking over the top job in England. He has set high standards, proper parameters and is getting the players to respond accordingly. The fact my visit coincided with all the furore over comments I made to a journalist about wanting to protect the English players in the Lions party from external forces made it all the more apt. I mixed with the players and was blown away once again by the interest in, and desire to be a part of, the Lions experience. Gatland, said the reaction to his interview in the Evening Standard "served to highlight the negativity" he was seeking to guard against and that he would "leave no stone unturned" in his preparations for the three-Test tour. "It still amazes me that out of a one and a half-hour interview, a lot of which was spent discussing English rugby, a 13 word headline is all that people read and remember," Gatland added, speaking to The Lions Newsletter. In many ways, the media reaction, or overreaction, to what I actually said and meant merely served to highlight the negativity I am seeking to guard against. We are leaving no stone unturned in our planning for the tour to Australia and protecting the players, sometimes from themselves, from the Australian and their own media, is a part of that process. We have to plan for every eventuality. For the record, as was also reported in the original article, but largely overlooked, 'the best players will be selected'. It has always been that way with the Lions and always will be. Gatland said he had been encouraged by the standard of rugby in the opening two rounds of the RBS Six Nations and that he would begin his analysis of the Australian players this weekend when the new Super Rugby tournament gets under way. I have been pleased with what I've seen so far. We had a lot of good rugby in the opening round, but last weekend was far more attritional, largely because of the weather," added Gatland. But last week's action was also full of guts, character and attitude, which was great to see. England have done well in their opening two games and the tournament looks like being very tight. We will launch our analysis on the leading Aussie players from this weekend and begin to compile a database on the players we will be meeting in June and July. We already know a lot about many of them, but the analysts will be doing even more homework during the Super Rugby season to fine tune everything we need. With all the quality players coming back from injury in Australia this season they could potentially have a different team to 2012. They will certainly have greater strength in depth.