Lions coach Warren Gatland suggested his All Black opposite number Steve Hansen is worried about the potential in the touring side after their 32-10 win over the Maori All Blacks this morning.
New Zealand coach Hansen has not been shy about offering his thoughts on the progress of the Lions squad since their arrival.
In the wake of the Lions' second loss of the tour against the Highlanders on Wednesday, Hansen remarked that the tourists were "running out of time" to unveil their new party trick before the first test.
Speaking to reporters after today's victory, Gatland decided to take encouragement from the fact that Hansen has been so free in commenting on the Lions squad.
"Normally he's pretty calm but he has been doing a lot of press conferences and I can only take that as a sign of respect," Gatland said.
"The only thing I can take from that is that Steve is a little bit worried about potentially how good this team can be."
Gatland added that his side had been under pressure after the patchy performances against the Blues and the Highlanders, not to mention the uninspiring victory over the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians in the first match.
Gatland, however, reiterated the message that he has adopted throughout the tour.
"We have been written off but we have said all along that it's about winning the test series and that's what we're here to do," he said.
"If we drop a couple of games along the way then we can live with that as long as we showed improvement.
"We know we have got a big step up against the All Blacks but all I can say is that is it going to be a great rugby series.
"Everyone can get excited about it."
