Warren Gatland has warned his Lions players they need to practice discipline on the field in the face of what will almost certainly be strong provocation during the games on their tour of Australia.

Gatland was speaking following the incident in yesterday’s game with the Barbarians, in which Baa Baas hooker Schalk Brits punched Owen Farrell off the ball and a confrontation between players from both teams took place. Gatland warned that his players that the team unit could pay heavily for any loss of discipline on tour, potentially resulting in bans and a weakened side.

"Sometimes it is hard when someone lays a punch squarely on the side of your jaw not to react," Gatland said.

"But we are going to emphasise from the start of this tour the importance of keeping our discipline.

"It is a nice reminder that sometimes things happen and you need to take one for the team. If you get whacked and respond, the consequences for the team can be severe.

"We might find a similar situation in Australia if someone is grabbed off the ball and we have to make sure we don't react.

"From our point of view the good thing was that Owen wasn't injured or knocked out.