Lions fighting for their lives... and their future in make-or-break Test
AT HIS house in the village of Rhiwbina, north of Cardiff, there’s not much that marks Sam Warburton out as one of the finest rugby players of his generation.
He is a strong personality, but not egocentric. He has one shirt framed on the wall and its identity may surprise.
It is red, but not the red of Wales. It is not the shirt he wore when he captained his country at 22, or when he led Wales to the Grand Slam in 2012. It is not the shirt from 2015 when he surpassed the record of 33 caps as Welsh captain.
The shirt that takes pride of place in his home is one he wore for the British and Irish Lions in 2013.
‘The Lions have been the absolute pinnacle of my career,’ said Warburton yesterday. ‘every career highlight has been in a Lions shirt. I still love playing for my club, Cardiff Blues, and for Wales but the Lions is what it’s all about for me.’
On the day this tour began, Warburton made a significant lifestyle change. He ditched his mobile phone with all its contacts and distractions. asked if he had received good luck messages from Gareth Bale and aaron Ramsey, Warburton said he wouldn’t know. Celebrity pals have gone the way of hangers-on and casual acquaintances.
Warburton has a new appliance and a handful of essential numbers: the Lions team and management, closest family, the best of mates. So determined was the Lions captain to avoid distraction in new Zealand that for two months he will be incommunicado to anyone beyond the tightest social circle.
‘I’ve just completely shut myself off from the outside world so I can focus,’ he said. ‘So I got a different phone. When I was younger, I ended up running around trying to get stuff signed for people and doing all these favours. This time, I thought: “Right, this is going to be two of the most important months of my career”. I had to do whatever it took to be as best prepared as possible.’
It’s easy to see why Warren Gatland was so determined to return his tour captain to the ranks for tomorrow’s Test. Having said his team was not long on extroverts, here was a genuine leader in words and deed. Peter O’Mahony may have captained by example in auckland, but he is a quiet man who communicates with an unnerving, intense stare.
Warburton, who led the last victorious Lions tour to australia, appears considerably more at ease in the role. He will argue that captaincy does not matter and the team is all; yet clearly it is more complicated than that.
While feeling sympathy for O’Mahony, who has not just lost the captaincy and his place in the team, but will not even be among the replacements, Warburton is a natural fit at the helm. a breakdown specialist, which the Lions will need on what is tipped to be a filthy night in Wellington, he has played must-win Tests at this level before and emerged triumphant. although never, he pointed out with no little irritation, against the Kiwis.
‘This game is the no1 for me. The biggest challenge of my career so far,’ said Warburton. ‘It’s the one team I haven’t beaten in world rugby so it’s something I’m desperate to achieve.’
november 22, 2014, Warburton thought he had finally done it. at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales led new Zealand 16-15 with 11 minutes left. ‘The whole game I felt we were in control of our try line,’ he added. ‘For over an hour, we were doing pretty well. Then an attacking kick got a good bounce for the full-back and they went in under the sticks. From that point we cascaded downhill and lost pretty badly.’ Final score: Wales 16 new Zealand 34.
‘It’s very difficult to know where 15 players are mentally,’ Warburton said. ‘I always pride myself that I’ll never quit, ever. But you only need two or three guys to think the all Blacks can’t be beaten, to drop their heads and that could be the game gone. You need 15 guys who stay on it for the whole 80 minutes and those guys who come off the bench, exactly the same.
‘I think you get that in a Lions team. It’s easier when you concede points or you’re under the posts, because no heads ever drop and everyone stays so competitive, because they’re all leaders in their own way. You might have a couple of guys at international level who drop their heads, but not here.
‘Looking back to last Saturday, new Zealand definitely deserved to win.
‘There were two chances they took extremely well and justified why they’re the best team in the world. But I definitely believe, with the guys we’ve got and the way they’ve been speaking this past week, that everybody has the perfect attitude to win this game — and it’s about making sure we do.’
Ultimately, it was losing the battle of brawn that stung the tourists. Warburton arrived as a replacement when the scoreline was getting away from the Lions, and Gatland had strong words for his warrior types in the aftermath. despite the surprising absence of Ben Te’o — so effective against Sonny Bill Williams — there is a sense that Warburton’s starting Xv have been charged with regaining northern superiority in the physical contest.
‘The pride of any rugby player is hurt when you come off second best physically,’ said Warburton. ‘Sometimes you can lose games on the bounce of a ball or a decision from a referee and those are difficult to take. But when you have been physically outplayed that hurts as a playing group. The boys are looking to put that right.
‘In rugby, it’s very much the case that 99 times out of 100 the more physical side wins. People might not like to hear that but it’s the truth. But being physical doesn’t men beating people up. It means your scrum is dominant, your line-out is dominant, your breakdown is dominant and that’s the majority of the game, really, apart from the kicking.
‘It was difficult in auckland. It was probably the first game on tour we were beaten physically at the breakdown and that’s just going to fuel the fire.
‘If anything, it’s going to be a matter of trying to calm the boys down a little bit and keep a clear head.
‘There are lots of games we might say are must-win, but this is actually must-win. Motivation will happen naturally because it’s all or nothing now. This is knock-out rugby and hopefully that brings the best out of the guys.’
It’s certainly brought the best out of Warburton in the past. If he doesn’t leave new Zealand with another memento worthy of his wall, it will not be for want of trying.
Nobody will ever give up — you get that in a Lions team