He's Wales' second youngest captain of all time after Gareth Edwards. He's played in 77 Tests, including a World Cup semi-final and two quarter-finals as well as three Tests for the Lions. But there are challenges and then there are, well, challenges. And Sam Warburton admits this is the biggest.
“It’d be number one. Definitely it would be the biggest challenge of my career so far. It’s the one team I haven’t beaten in world rugby as well so it’s something I am desperate to achieve,” he says, having played them seven times and lost the lot.
"I have managed to beat every other nation in the world but I haven't beaten New Zealand, so for that fact put together with being away from home, starting in a Test match, it's going to be the biggest honour in my career leading the boys out on Saturday. So I can't wait for that."
Warburton’s appetite has assuredly been further whetted by having been on the bench for almost the first hour of the first Test in Eden Park, although far from being disappointed by that he was “over the moon”.
“To be perfectly honest, going into the tour when I had my knee injury, it was eight weeks out of action and I remember thinking put a positive spin on it, ‘it’ll be a mini-pre-season and I’ll be fresh’. But really it wasn’t great timing. It was poor timing for me.”
“So to get on the bench for the first Test, I was thinking about this, that for me individually was the third biggest highlight of my career. I started the first two Tests in 2013 and then being on the bench for a Test match, and I’ve always said when I go on the Lions tour that I just want to be involved in the Test matches, that’s what it’s all about really.”
The Welsh captain doesn’t disguise his belief that the Lions is the ultimate honour, and, while he confesses to knowing little of the off-field politics or finances, he was so moved by reading one article calling future Lions’ tours into question, he had a chat with the Lions CEO John Feehan about it. Warburton would be aghast if the Lions were the victims of any new world order or global calendar.
“From the playing point of view it’s been the absolute pinnacle of my career and every career highlight I have had has been in a Lions shirt. I still love playing for my club, Cardiff Blues, and Wales but the Lions is what it’s all about for me.
“Without sounding too strong I’d be gutted, devastated, if the Lions was ever lost. I think it’s absolutely amazing and the players all think the same. In my house I’ve only got one jersey hanging up on the wall, and it’s my Lions jersey. That’s how much I think of the Lions.”
Brilliant job
This tour’s importance to him is such that he has acquired a new phone, with contact numbers solely for close family and friends, as well as the players. His old phone is, he knows, liable to explode when he turns it on after returning home, but all the manifold charity requests and so forth can wait until then.
Warburton has returned as both blindside flanker at the expense of Peter O’Mahony, who also misses out on the bench despite having assumed the captaincy a week ago. Hence, his emotions would not have been comparable to Peter O’Mahony’s yesterday.
“Pete was one of the first guys I wanted to go and congratulate when they picked that first Test team. I think he has done a brilliant job over the past three Saturdays as captain and I think everyone in the squad would agree.
“Today he was one of first players to come up to me as well. All the players on this tour – it’s not about the captaincy – it is very much team first. Pick the squad then the captain.
“All the players appreciate that and we want to be part of a winning Test series. When I look back at 2013 I don’t look at players not involved in that last Test as non-series winners. You all are. As long as you contribute that is the most important thing.”
Ironically, despite being fellow Lions for the second tour running, this will be the first time Warburton will start a game alongside a long-time foe at number seven, Sean O’Brien, who replaced the injured captain for the decisive Third test four years ago.
“For me personally it’s the first time I’ve played with Sean O’Brien. I’ve played against him many times and I’ve been in the same Lions squad as him twice but I’ve never had the privilege of playing with him. He’s somebody who I regard as one of the best sevens I’ve played against really, so I’m looking forward to that partnership.”
As for this, the biggest challenge he’s ever faced, the equation is simple in his mind.
More physical
“In rugby it’s very much a case of 99 times out of 100 the more physical side wins. People might not like to hear that but it is the truth. Being physical doesn’t men beating people up, it means your scrum is dominant, your lineout is dominant, your breakdown is dominant and that’s the majority of the game really apart from the kicking side. That has to improve this weekend. I think the guys that have been brought in can add a bit of strength to that.”
Warburton has no doubt that motivation will not be a problem for the Lions. If anything, keeping a degree of calm and composure in the build-up to the game and during it will be critical.
Against that, it was, he stressed, no coincidence that the Lions’ best two wins on tour against the Crusaders and the Maori were also the only two games when the tourists kept the penalty count against them down to single figures.
Warburton invariably fosters a good on-field working relationship with referees, and to that end, after much dialogue between Lions players and Jaco Peyper in the first Test, he revealed that it has been agreed within the camp that he will be the only voice who deals with Jerome Garces in the second test.
