Former Lions head coach Warren Gatland says he has cleared the air with Sean O'Brien following the Irish flanker's criticism of the coaching on last summer's tour to New Zealand.
O'Brien said that rather than drawing the series, the Lions "should have won 3-0 with the players we had" and singled out backs coach Rob Howley for what he perceived was a lack of an attacking game plan.
Gatland subsequently called O'Brien's comments "disrespectful" and "disappointing" but, speaking to RTE to promote his new book In the Line of Fire: The Inside Story from the Lions Head Coach, the Kiwi said there were no hard feelings between the pair.
"Everyone is entitled to have an opinion. There was nothing wrong with that," Gatland told the Ryan Tubridy show on RTÉ Radio 1.
"I just thought there was a better forum than the one that he chose if he was going to say a few things.
"I spoke to Sean a few weeks ago to get his view on things. It was fine, there were no issues.
"He felt that people had only reported on some of the negative things he'd said and not any of the positives. That's the way that things happen.
"He probably regrets some of the things that he said. I've experienced that in the past, when you wish you hadn't said things, so I understand that."
Gatland added, jokingly: "For him to come out and say we should have won the series 3-0 comfortably, well there must be some valuable information there. I would like to know how we would do that.
"As a group of coaches we obviously did something wrong. If he could share that information, how we could have beaten the All Blacks three-nil he'd get a lot of money for it!"
The Wales head coach was also asked about his decision to drop Ireland's record cap holder and try scorer Brian O'Driscoll from the third Test against Australia in 2013.
The call was hugely controversial at the time and, though Gatland says the 41-16 victory that clinched a 2-1 series win ultimately vindicated his choice, he admitted that he still thinks about his "hardest decision".
"I reflect back on that a lot. As a coach, you've got to make what you think is the right call at the time.
"The hardest thing with the Lions is that we're all so parochial about our own nation. Everyone gets so caught up in what they think are the right decisions.
"Was it the right call? We won the game. It was a record win for the Lions against Australia.
"That doesn't mean I don't reflect back and know it was the hardest decision.
"But that's sometimes what you're asked to do as coaches. It's a matter of opinion. You make what you think is the right decision."
Gatland praised O'Driscoll for his reaction to being left out after starting the previous two Tests.
"I think the most important thing is the way that Brian O'Driscoll conducted himself.
"I have a huge amount of respect for him. One, as a player, he's one of the greatest players ever to put on an Irish jersey or a Lions jersey.
"But the way he conducted himself after being left out is the measure of him as a person, as a man.
"He was incredibly dignified. He could have came out and been critical. One of the things that he said was 'Now that I've talked the talk, I have to walk the walk.
"Because he had been in that situation. As the Irish captain all those years, he had seen players left out, dropped, and he used to often talk to those players and say 'there's going to be people here who are disappointed they haven't been selected but your role over the next few days is to put that disappointment behind (you) and do as much as you can to support the starting XV and the subs and help them to prepare to get a performance at the weekend'.
"In fairness to him, he did exactly that. I know how disappointed he was but he got behind the players for that third test and supported them in terms of preparing."
