THE BIG TILE SALE
when rugby cleared the way to start paying players, and yet he’s done as much as anyone to bring the level of professionalism to rugby in Wales that’s long been present in many other sports.
His rapid ascendancy from the fringes of the national squad to its captaincy as we approached the 2011 Rugby World Cup felt like a genuine generational shift in the Welsh game. Swept aside was the prevalent work hard-play hard culture of the recent past. In its place, led by Warburton, was ushered in an atmosphere of physical endeavour, of sacrifice, of an uncompromising approach to maximising one’s athletic potential.
Where his predecessors may have boasted of boozy tour escapades and post-match sessions, the level of excess featured in Warburton’s interviews of the time extended to enjoying a late-night protein bar and cup of tea with his room-mate Dan Lydiate, while they talked about tractors and watched The Weakest Link.
Twee maybe, but the unrelenting focus on physical performance created shockwaves at the tournament in New Zealand. That it should be their captain’s misfortune in being sent off for a mistimed tackle on Vincent Clerc that ultimately cost this outstanding young side a historic place in the final was the cruellest irony. Yet much can be learned from Warburton’s reaction to that incident, even as a young man learning what it was to feel the weight of the nation on his shoulders. There would be no histrionics or fuming aggression. Simply his jersey pulled up over his face for the briefest of moments while he restored his composure amid the most gutwrenching despair, before he took his place – red-eyed but controlled – back on the Welsh bench.
When Warburton’s career history is written, it will be as an inspirational captain that he is likely to be remembered. And it will be warranted. This is a man given the exceedingly rare honour of leading the Lions not once, but twice, most significantly due to the respect he would immediately command from those he encountered.
So an outstanding leader, yes. But history will be wrong to overlook – as so many do – Warburton’s worldclass ability as a player. In sport, there are players whose reputations seem to be enhanced by their absence, and those whose standings seem to shrink. In the past few years for Wales, Warburton has seemed to fall into the latter category. I’ve never understood it.
Quick, strong, technically excellent over the ball, a brutal tackler, skilled ball handler and thoroughly fearless, the absence of a fully-fit Warburton from the Wales pack would almost always bring with it a downgrade in the ferocity of its breakdown work. Justin Tipuric’s running and passing may have caught the eye in that famous 30-3 win over England in 2013, but for me that game was Warburton’s masterpiece.
It might only have been 9-3 at half-time, but England had been beaten up by Wales. And it was Sam Warburton at the heart of that physical dominance.
Happily for Warburton, I couldn’t be more convinced that he’ll be a success in whatever he does after rugby. Witness him talking to school children in Cardiff last year about the importance of maintaining a healthy approach to body image for an example of his emotional intelligence. Or see the articulate and insightful contribution he brought to his role as a BBC pundit in this year’s Six Nations as evidence of a razor-sharp analytical mind.
But whatever Sam Warburton does next, we should remember him as one of Welsh rugby’s true greats – an image that will only become clearer as we gain the increasing benefit of hindsight.
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