Justin Tipuric once revealed: “As a kid I absolutely hated missing tackles.
“We could win a game by 40 points but I’d be gutted that I’d missed a tackle.”
It’s something that’s stuck with him.
Last autumn, the Lions’ official Twitter account asked the question: “Who’s the best defender the Lions have ever had?”
It’s something of a shock that you have to scroll down through 41 comments before someone offers the name of Tipuric.
He has never missed a single tackle in a Lions jersey: 107 hits attempted, every one of them nailed.
For those in any doubt, that’s a stat that deserves to be served up on a silver platter with a tasteful garnish.
Eleven games without missing a tackle against opponents not averse to throwing not just the kitchen sink at the Lions but the fridge freezer, the microwave oven and the automatic dishwasher as well. That’s good going by any standard.
Maybe it’s because he’s only featured in one Test over two tours that his efforts have tended to go under the radar compared with others — but not by some of those who’ve played alongside him.
Former Ireland captain Rory Best declared of Tipuric on a House of Rugby UK podcast : “I genuinely think he’s one of the best I’ve played with.”
And fellow Lion from 2017 James Haskell joked on the same show: “We wondered whether he did something to one of Gats' relatives or something, because of the fact that he didn't get more game-time. We asked him: “What have you done, mate?!
" Sam Warburton is a fantastic player but in any other team, he (Tipuric) would have started. All-round skill-set, engine on him, ability over the ball and, just, overall how good he was."
In fairness to Gatland, he grew to value Tipuric hugely when with Wales. It may have taken until Warburton retired for the Osprey to be a regular starter in the biggest games, but Tipuric played the house down for the New Zealander during 2018 and 2019.
Maybe his best performance came against Australia the autumn before the last World Cup when he emerged from a duel against David Pocock and Michael Hooper with three turnovers and a hand in two more.
Yet when he arrived on the scene a decade or so ago he was known more for his skill in the wide channels. His highlights reel does indeed include some wonderful handling moments, spectacular tries and instances of rare skill.
But there’s always been more — much more.
Tipuric has always been a force at the breakdown, whether by slowing opposition ball down or relieving rivals of possession through turnovers, while his regular posting of remarkable tackle stats underlines that this is a player who can defend with the best out there.
Gatland will know all this.
He would have witnessed Tipuric putting in multiple hits in the final stages of the game against France in the Six Nations in 2019. During those desperate minutes for Wales, it appeared the red defensive line would have to break, so intense and multi-faceted were the French attacks. But it didn’t, in no small measure because of Wales No. 7, who seemed to have mastered the trick of being in five different places at once. No Tipuric that night, no Wales win and no Welsh Grand Slam six weeks later.
There are plenty who are writing him off for a Test place for the Lions this summer.
One or two have even opted to leave him out of their squads.
But the Ospreys captain is probably at the peak of his powers.
If he’s not there or thereabouts for a Test place in South Africa, it’ll be a surprise - and a major surprise at that.
