Warburton had death threat in 2011
Former Wales and British and Irish Lions captain Sam Warburton has revealed he received a death threat following his red card in the 2011 World Cup semifinal at Eden Park.
Warburton, then 23, was skippering Wales for the first time at a World Cup and his tournament ended on a sour note when he was sent off early in their 9-8 semifinal defeat to France in Auckland.
The flanker was dismissed for a dangerous tip tackle on French winger Vincent Clerc and France would progress to the final to face the All Blacks, who won 8-7 to become world champions for the second time.
Warburton, who retired in June at the age of 29 for health reasons, was widely supported in Wales following the incident but he would receive a threatening letter.
‘‘I got a death threat sent to the house,’’ Warburton told a BBC podcast. ‘‘Well, they sent it to the [Cardiff] Blues and they obviously didn’t know what was in it.
‘‘People write to the WRU [Welsh Rugby Union] or the Blues because they know the address, and then the Blues might send you an elastic bands worth of about 10 letters.
‘‘I opened up one and there were skulls and coffins on it, there were drawings saying [what would happen] if I ever went out of the house.
‘‘It was so over the top that I thought it was a bit of a joke and it didn’t bother me. But that was the only bad thing I got.’’