'Clown jewels': Hansen receives clown treatment in UK tabloid

UK tabloid The Sun has hit back after the All Blacks' shock 24-21 loss to the Lions by depicting coach Steve Hansen as a clown.

The retort comes after the Herald caricatured Lions coach Warren Gatland as a clown following their first test defeat to the All Blacks at Eden Park last weekend.

The Sun's image shows Gatland throwing a pie into the face of a red-nosed Hansen in a clown outfit with the headline "CLOWN JEWELS".

The image is captioned: "Eating humble pie... how Gatland could turn tables on Kiwi coach Hansen.

The cartoon is the latest in a war of words between New Zealand and foreign media as well as niggle between Gatland and Hansen.

Hansen was given the clown treatment in the back page of The Sun. Photo / The Sun

Just last week Hansen took a shot at Gatland after phoning a radio station, branding his counterpart as "desperate" and "predictable".

However his tune soon changed when pleading media to stop the depictions of Gatland.

"You guys are having a field day at the moment between Gats (Gatland) and I, so I'm not feeding that."

Meanwhile Sonny Bill Williams faces the judiciary after he was red-carded for a shoulder charge to the head of Lions winger Anthony Watson.

Lions forward Sean O'Brien could also face time on the sideline after he was cited for dangerous play on Waisake Naholo which is deemed to have met the threshold for a red card.