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Sean O'Brien Claims Match-Week Preparations Cost The Lions A Series Win In New Zealand

1 July 2017; Sean O'Brien of the British & Irish Lions following the Second Test match between New Zealand All Blacks and the British & Irish Lions at Westpac Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Daniel Kelly
By Daniel Kelly
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The 2017 Lions tour to New Zealand was a bittersweet one for Sean O'Brien.

Despite starting all three Tests and scoring one of the best Lions tries in recent memory, The Tullow Tank thinks the best of Britain and Ireland should have left New Zealand with a series win.

Instead they drew 1-1, having won the second test and drawing the final match in Auckland.

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Speaking on Wednesday night's Off the Ball, O'Brien didn't paint the drawn series in the best of light.

I'd be pretty critical of it. To be honest, we should have won the tour, and we should have won it comfortably enough.

Despite coaching the side in both 2013 and this summer, O'Brien felt head coach Warren Gatland made some mistakes in the buildup to the Test matches.

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The first week, we definitely over trained, on the Thursday. Maybe the coaches were panicking about getting the information into us.

We did nearly the same thing on the last week. So maybe it's more of a coaches point of view for taking lesson. 'Less is more.'

O'Brien revealed he brought up the issues with the coaching staff ahead of the First Test, saying the both sides needed more dialogue.

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He admitted he was "proud" of what happened but said the squad should have won the Tour. Despite the grueling nature of the ten-match tour, O'Brien said fatigue wasn't an issue.

It was a bit of management in how our weeks went.

You can listen to the interview in full on the Off the Ball website.

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SEE ALSO: Sean O'Brien Belting Out Westlife For The Lions Is What The World Needs Now

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