Warren Gatland says it's time to step back from the Lions and he wants Andy Farrell to be his successor

As a New Zealander, the British and Irish Lions have always held a special place in my heart.

As a player it was one of my career highlights to face them during their tour of New Zealand in 1993 for Waikato. I even managed to score a try in our 38-10 win. With each passing year, my run to the line becomes longer and longer.

But I have also been immensely proud of my involvement with the Lions, since I was first asked to be assistant coach by Sir Ian McGeechan for the tour of South Africa in 2009, and thereafter as head coach for the tours of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

It is that sentiment which right now, from a personal point of view, makes this the biggest decision of all. A few weeks ago, I was asked by Nigel Walker, Wales’ director of rugby, if I was interested in putting my name forward to be head coach for the next tour in Australia in 2025.

It did not take long to get back to him. I told him I was not going to put my name forward. I told Nigel that I would have no problem if any of my support staff were to be asked to be involved as I would see it as a great experience for them.

But I think it is the opportunity now for someone else to be head coach and Andy Farrell would have my backing for the job.

You cannot deny what Ireland have achieved as a nation over the last few years and you are starting to see the fruition of the alignment between the Irish provinces and the union. There is no doubt that Andy has done a fantastic job.

Even though Ireland lost their quarter-final to New Zealand, it was an epic match and it could have gone either way. And that is sport. Everyone always just looks at results rather than what teams have achieved and the progress they have made. Andy has got really good man-management skills, has huge experience in the game as a professional from a young age in rugby league and I have a huge amount of respect for him as a person and as a coach.

He was a key member of my Lions coaching teams on the tours of 2013 and 2017 and I wanted him again for the South Africa tour.

Unfortunately I was told Ireland were not keen on releasing him because of the need to develop another fly-half behind Johnny Sexton – even though there was an opportunity for him to go to South Africa, who were in their World Cup pool, and get a close-up look at them over seven weeks.

I passionately believe that all the Home Unions should make their coaches available for the Lions if asked. If nothing else it is a great opportunity to develop as a coach, share ideas and learn from each other.

As a coach not from one of the four Home Unions, I have always felt an extra responsibility to make sure I always honoured the best traditions of the Lions and did everything I could to fight for extra preparation time to ensure the players have the best chance of winning. Sometimes it has felt like an existential battle for the survival of the Lions.

One of the low points was the 2017 tour of New Zealand. Our two domestic finals were on Saturday, we assembled for the first time on Sunday, flew to New Zealand on Monday, arrived on Wednesday before our first game on Saturday. What sort of preparation is that for what is meant to be the pinnacle for the players and one of the biggest tours in the rugby calendar?

From the moment we assembled in London before our departure, we stayed in 10 different hotels in the first two weeks and the only day off we had was the Wednesday before the second Test. It was crazy.

It also remains a deep disappointment to me that the 2021 tour of South Africa was not postponed for a year because of the impact of the Covid pandemic. Going ahead with the tour without our supporters being able to travel and playing in front of empty stadiums was just wrong. It was not fair on the players, nor our supporters, who make the tours so special.

I can understand there was external pressure coming on the Home Unions not to postpone, but for me that was a discussion and a debate that we should have had, but never did.

That was not a decision for me. In fact, if the tour had been postponed by 12 months, it is highly likely that I would not have been able to coach the side because I was going back to New Zealand then to resume my role as director of rugby with Waikato Chiefs. But I strongly felt it was the best decision for the Lions.

I know some of my decisions as head coach have not always been well-received. I guess the decision to drop Brian O’Driscoll for the third Test in our series victory against Australia in 2013 is the one that stands out. It opened me up to a huge amount of criticism, particularly from Ireland supporters.

The first question after we comfortably won the third Test was whether I felt vindicated by picking Jonathan Davies instead. I could see the headline that would follow, that I had gloated over the decision to drop Brian.

Nothing could have been further from the truth. It was a very tough decision and sometimes as head coach you have to make calls even if they make you unpopular but are right for the team.

I don’t expect players to always accept them, and sometimes as a coach you get decisions wrong. But I can put my hand on my heart and say I have always done what I thought was the best for the Lions.

A Lions tour is a unique experience. The biggest challenge in my opinion is creating the right environment to blend players from four countries into one to make it a special tour for everyone.

If you get that right, the rugby tends to take care of itself. What undermines the success of a Lions tour is if there are factions and friction within the squad. If you get things right off the field, then you have a good chance to get things right on the field.

If the next head coach wants to tap into my experiences from the last four tours, then I would still love to be involved in some way by passing on the knowledge and experience I have gained in trying to create harmony within a group of players from different backgrounds.

For the Lions, it is the least I can do.