Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
BIG SAM CAPTAIN, LEADER, LEGEND
Warburton led from the front and his sense of calm and authority saved the Lions from defeat
SAM WARBURTON told his British and Irish Lions a place in the history books would be theirs if they played without fear.
Before the biggest match of their lives he stood in front of his team and convinced them they were at least the equal of the back-toback world champions.
He looked into the eyes of a group of men brought together only six weeks before and with the calm assurance that has hallmarked his captaincy made them believe they could play like superheroes.
“These games bring out the biggest players and the toughest competitors,” he said. “That’s what we’re all here for: the big arena like this.
“This is when the big boys step up.
It’s not pressure at all. Don’t be afraid of what you could lose. Be excited about what you could achieve.”
A quote from an Olympic track legend sprung to his mind in those tense final minutes before the match which all present knew would define their tour.
“Pressure is nothing more than the shadow of great opportunity,” Warburton continued. “That’s what Michael Johnson said. It stuck with me when I read it because that’s how I see it as well.
“You’ve got to be brave in these games, you’ve got to be able to take chances and make things happen.”
Two hours later, when Warburton led his team back into the changing room, their place in history had been secured.
They displayed courage and fortitude to withstand a fierce firsthalf onslaught from the All Blacks which yielded two unanswered tries but only a 12-6 half-time lead.
And when Owen Farrell stepped up three minutes from time his kick clinched not only a draw on the night, but a tied series which ended 46 years of Lions failure in New Zealand.
Or so it seemed. But Warburton’s work was not done. With a minute left the Lions were penalised within easy goalkicking range. The tour suddenly looked doomed, but the skipper had other ideas.
While all around panicked, Warburton (above, lifting the trophy with All Blacks skipper Kieran Read) calmly approached French referee Romain Poite and politely asked him to check for accidental offside.
He could not give up on the cause, not with all that was done to give him this opportunity.
“You think of all sorts,” he said. “Family, my little girl, my wife, all the things you sacrifice to get here. Little things. “Sacrifices with your diet, your sleep, your lifestyle.
“How you have looked after yourself so after four years you get to a Lions series and how, when it finally arrives, you just want to do yourself justice.”
Poite (above) looked at the screen, consulted with his touch judges and then the video ref.
“It was a shot to nothing because he had awarded the penalty,” Warburton admitted. “But all game he had been quite receptive to looking at things.”
To the flanker’s delight, Poite ruled in the Lions’ favour and almost immediately the game fizzled out.
Warburton said his preference would have been to go for extra-time as it is “nice to see a winner”. But one man only has so much influence.
Even when that man is Sam Warburton. NZ - Tries: Laumape, J Barrett. Con: B Barrett. Pen: B Barrett. LIONS - Pens: Farrell 4, Daly.