Dan Biggar has hit back of criticism of the Lions tactics in South Africa and insisted players questioning Warren Gatland's approach should have 'voiced their opinion at the time.'
The Lions came under heavy fire from pundits and fans for their negative kicking game, with Biggar as fly-half at the centre of some of the flak after passing the ball just three times during the second Test defeat.
Mercurial Scotland star Finn Russell has publicly questioned the Lions' approach, saying Gatland's team should have "played more rugby and gone at them a little bit more" in each of the three Tests.
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Russell replaced Biggar early in the final match and immediately tried to bring a more expansive approach to the side.
Ireland lock Iain Henderson, who was overlooked for the Test series, has also questioned Gatland's methods, saying he didn't pick players on form and shouldn't have tried to take on the Springboks at their own power game.
In an interview with the Mail, Biggar has addressed some of the criticism and rejects claims being made post-tour that the Lions tactics were flawed.
"We all bought into it at the time," he said. "If they had such a strong opinion about it, maybe they could have voiced it at the time."
He continued: "I've never made a mistake watching a game back on a sofa. Hindsight is brilliant; you never make a mistake.
"I think the general consensus of the group was frustration and disappointment. That probably caused some lads to say that.
"But you're always wise after the event, aren't you? People are going to do interviews and give their opinions and they are entitled to them, but for me there was just frustration in the group that we couldn't finish the job after going 1-0 up."
To be fair to Russell, he too spoke of frustration being the overriding feeling in the dressing room as the Lions lost 2-1.
But there is a feeling from many that the Lions was an opportunity lost because of Gatland's route one approach.
Gatland didn't attempt to make the best of the flair available in the backs among the best of British and Irish rugby and three successive Rugby Championship defeats for the Springboks have led to further claims the Lions could have won by being more adventurous.
However, Biggar is sticking to his guns, saying: "What hurts with the Lions is that we didn't play much different from the first Test to the second, but the result changes the reaction completely.
"I was watching the New Zealand-South Africa game last weekend and people were saying what a brilliant game it was, but I didn't think it was.
"It had intensity and drama, but if you actually looked at the skill level and the style of play, certainly from South Africa, it was very similar (to the Lions series).
"But all of a sudden, because New Zealand were playing, it turned into a brilliant game of rugby, which I didn't think it was."
Biggar hopes to return to rugby this weekend with Northampton, his first game since limping off early in the decisive Lions Test.
And he is putting the Lions woe behind him to focus on success with club and country this season.
He says not being a winning Lion hurts.
"But if I keep looking back on that it's going to drag and drag through the season and I want to get back to focusing on playing well for Northampton and setting new goals," he continued.
"I want to be successful with Northampton and I'm eight caps away from 100 with Wales, so that is a massive goal."
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