I will not be defined by that one RED CARD insists Sam Warburton
SAM WARBURTON has accepted the ‘what if?’ question will haunt him until the day he dies. ‘I’ll be doing a Q&A session when I’m 60 and someone will ask me about that red card,’ says the Wales skipper. Four years on, the 17th minute of the 2011 World Cup semi-final is still one of the most debated topics throughout bars and restaurants in Cardiff: was Alain Rolland wrong to send off Warburton for his tip tackle on France winger Vincent Clerc?
‘It was one of the toughest lessons of my life,’ says Warburton. ‘ I locked myself in a cubicle for a quarter of an hour after the game and everything went quiet. My parents had flown across the world, specifically for that match, to watch me play just 17 minutes. I was shocked. Devastated.’
There were tears, but Warburton still stepped up to face the music at the press conference in the aftermath of the 9-8 defeat. He spent the rest of the tournament in his own bubble, away from the spotlight, at the Sky Tower Hotel in Auckland. He continued to train with the team ahead of their third-place play-off, but spent his evenings with the reassuring company of his family.
‘I watched a TV programme that showed 60,000 fans at 9am before the match and then panned to their reaction afterwards,’ says Warburton (right). ‘I was sitting with my family and I just got so upset. “What have I done?” I said to them. I didn’t know how the public was going to react — was I going to become some kind of villain?’
On his return to Cardiff, Warburton was subjected to five hours of ‘relentless’ interviews and the shock factor struck again. His confidence was knocked and he needed to prove he could still commit to a tackle, so he made his ‘biggest ever hit’ in the 80th minute of his comeback against Racing Metro. That alone did not lay his demons to rest.
It was after the loss of a dear family member two months later that he finally put to bed what happened in New Zealand. ‘My granddad passed away in the December after and that brought things into perspective,’ says Warburton. ‘We used to watch sport together every Friday night and that made me realise there are more important things in life. I gave myself a kick up the backside and grew up a little bit. I knew I had the support of the people — I had middle-aged d women running up to me in the e supermarket to give me a hug!’
Warburton’s jersey from the e 2011 semi-final is signed by hiss team-mates and mounted on hiss parents’ wall in Cardiff. He scoffs at claims of bitterness, denying suggestions he needs to right the e wrongs of four years ago.
‘The red card isn’t a motivating factor now,’ say Warburton. ‘I don’t want to win a World Cup because of something that happened four years ago. It’s about the sacrifice we’ve put in over those four years.
‘It’s been a long journey. We had a phase of losing eight in a row, while we’ve won two Six Nations championships as well. Players have come and gone and there have been storms of highs and lows.’
Wales were back in the emotional torture chamber last Saturday. Warburton’s worst fears were confirmed when full-back Leigh Halfpenny and scrum-half Rhys Webb were ruled out of the World Cup, providing coach Warren Gatland with a major test of the strength in squad depth. With a significantly smaller playing pool than England, Wales are already punching above their weight but Warburton is confident the double blow does not spell the end to Welsh hopes.
‘Of course we can do it without them,’ says Warburton. ‘New Zealand won in 2011 when they lost Dan Carter and rugby isn’t just a 15-man game. If we aren’t worthy of winning the World Cup after losing two players, then we don’t deserve it anyway. You’ve got seven games to get there and you’re going to lose more guys along the way.
‘We’ve lost Leigh but Liam Williams is one of the most naturally gifted players we’ve got. Mike Phillips is a two-time British Lion with 90-odd caps and he’s the perfect replacement for Rhys.’
Like Warburton, Phillips is a survivor from 2011. It is likely to be a farewell for Phillips, but Warburton, who took the captaincy at 22, still has his best days ahead of him — with the opportunity to become the first Welshman to lead his side at three World Cups.
Wales wing George North became the youngest WC tryscorer vs Namibia in 2011, at 19 years, 166 days