Warren Gatland, the Lions head coach, has admitted he was "embarrassed" to be a New Zealander after the "arrogant" behaviour of All Blacks supporters and sections of their media when Steve Hansen's side set a record of test victories with their win over Australia.

Gatland was in the crowd at Eden Park on October 22 to see the All Blacks record their 18th successive test win, 37-10 over the Wallabies. He was on a scouting trip ahead of next year's tour and felt the booing of Australia's New Zealand-born first five Quade Cooper was unacceptable.

The former All Blacks hooker also indicated he was uncomfortable with NZME's decision to publish a caricature of Australia head coach Michael Cheika dressed as a clown on the morning of the match with the front-page headline "Send in the clowns".

PHOTOSPORT The booing of Quade Cooper was unacceptable, according to Warren Gatland.

A war of words erupted between the New Zealand and Australia camps, with Cheika and Australia captain Stephen Moore claiming the coverage had been disrespectful to the Wallabies.

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Gatland, who hopes his Lions team will be afforded more respect by the New Zealand public following his side's test series victory over Australia in 2013, admitted he found his experience an unedifying one. Dylan Hartley, England's New Zealand-born captain, is among the strong contenders to lead the 10-match tour next year.

"I was at Eden Park watching the game a couple of weeks ago and, as a Kiwi, I was embarrassed," said Gatland, who was also involved as a senior coach in the Lions tour of South Africa in 2009.

"There was still a large portion of the crowd booing Quade Cooper. Get over it. Then there was the clown stuff in the Herald.

"One of the things I was proud of as a Kiwi was showing humility. The All Blacks try to do that but there's a proportion of New Zealanders that have a little bit of arrogance and not humility. As a Kiwi I was sitting in the stands watching the game and I was a little bit embarrassed.

"You can be proud but you've still got to show humility and respect. In the past New Zealanders have prided ourselves on that and been humble about the success of the rugby team. It was the first time that I've sat there and thought, 'We're better than this'.

"I don't think the All Blacks are doing that. Obviously there's history between Hansen and Cheika that's come out on a few occasions but the squad and team have tried to play things down."

Gatland, who is travelling to Chicago to watch Ireland play New Zealand on Saturday (Sunday NZ time), believes that Hansen's side have taken their game to a new level following their World Cup triumph last year but that Wales's performance in the three-test tour last June had given him hope of success next year.

"From a Welsh perspective, we have shown that we can compete for 60 minutes and look OK," Gatland added.

"We have often commented if we get four or five injuries in Wales we start to struggle a little in terms of the back-up. The beauty and the great thing about the Lions is the depth that you have got to choose from."

- The Daily Telegraph