Warburton, the ultimate team player, gives his Lions a shot at series glory
GIVEN how many Lions tour implosions have been triggered by egos irreversibly bruised in selection, the way Sam Warburton bestrode events at the Westpac Stadium on Saturday was somehow fitting.
That is not to say his second Test performance warranted the man-ofthe-match award. No, Warburton was doggedly efficient rather than eye-catchingly brilliant – and he’s far from the first blindside flanker to get that kind of verdict.
Yet if ever a man’s personality underpinned a turnaround – and let’s face it after the recriminatory week the Lions endured in the buildup this was some turnaround – then Warburton’s did so in Wellington. And how.
From his passionate insight into what the Lions concept meant to him on the eve of the game to his ‘we’ve not achieved anything yet’ stance after the final whistle, Warburton demonstrated, not for the first time, the sort of character that makes him an ultimate modern day sporting professional, never mind just a rugby player.
What we saw was the continuation of a dignified stance that has set a tone from the very beginning of this tour. The absence of dissent among the ranks suggests it has trickled downwards, and nobody should underestimate the importance of that.
Beating the All Blacks starts and ends with the health of the Lions’ collective mindset. Those dismissive of Warburton’s on-field abilities should remember that his influence extends way beyond what he does when he crosses the white line.
It is easy to forget the significance of the Cardiff Blues man being passed over as he was for the first Test and having to watch another player lead the Lions in his place.
Warren Gatland – correctly – concluded that Warburton was not up to speed fitness-wise after a long spell out of the game injured, and so bestowed the honour of the armband at Eden Park on Irishman Peter O’Mahony.
The decision meant Warburton became only the fourth Lions captain in the history of the badge not to start the first Test, and so was hardly without the potential to deal a sizeable psychological blow.
In fact, you have to go back to 1930 for the last time it happened. England forward Doug Prentice didn’t pick himself to play in the first, third or fourth Tests in New Zealand.
Before that, Ireland hooker Tom Smyth and English flanker Johnny Hammond missed the first Tests against South Africa in 1910 and 1896 respectively, Smyth through injury, Hammond by choice.
Warburton will therefore return home with a rather unbecoming place in the record books regardless of what happens in the series decider.
Don’t doubt it, some captains would have taken serious umbrage.
At the 2007 World Cup, Wales boss Gareth Jenkins demoted his captain Gareth Thomas to the bench for the first match against Canada, instead asking Dwayne Peel to lead the side out.
Thomas said nothing publicly, but privately, albeit in different circumstances, he was seething. The first game of a World Cup was one of those rare occasions, Thomas believed, that a captain should be allowed to stand tall at the front of the line. And he was absolutely floored to be denied the opportunity of doing so.
However, if you think Warburton is giving a second thought to joining the exclusive club of Prentice, Smyth and Hammond then think again. It won’t even register.
How can it in the mind of somebody so selflessly wedded to the conviction that whatever any Lions squad achieves, it achieves together.
And Warburton has backed up the above with deeds, not just words. It’s what he does.
At the 2011 World Cup he set himself personal standards that demanded, among other things, a permanently upbeat mood, an approachable and friendly demeanour in public and zero alcohol consumption.
As skipper, he didn’t lay down any laws on any of the above, he didn’t need to. Where he led, the rest followed.
So, is it any coincidence that, for the second successive time, a Lions tour presided over by Gatland and Warburton has been virtually devoid of internal strife?
Is it any coincidence that players went at the two final midweek games with genuine 100% commitment – with some getting their reward – even though beforehand they were viewed as fixtures to avoid like the plague?
Saturday was a triumph for an individual being prepared to see the bigger picture, to retain perspective in the face of disappointment, to have faith in his own ability and to
trust the decisions of those in the positions to make them.
That it took a 77th-minute penalty from Owen Farrell to sink the 14-man All Blacks following Sonny Bill Williams’ silly dismissal should make no odds.
The way Warburton’s men kept believing when things weren’t going their way spoke volumes and was rewarded with tries by Taulupe Faletau and Conor Murray.
So many former Lions, so many of Warburton’s peers, across a whole range of sports, could learn from the example he has set.
In the somewhat fraught days of this expedition when the Lions were desperately trying to bed themselves in against New Zealand’s Super Rugby sides, Warburton’s detractors were penning his tour obituary.
It was quickly obvious that he would not indeed be ready for the first Test. But to suggest he would then be banished in ignominy to a watching brief was always naive, not to mention a major disservice to all that Warburton offers.
Having played a part in ending New Zealand’s 47-game unbeaten home run and helped the Lions win a match many thought beyond them, others in Warburton’s position would have faced media inquisitors in a spiky, I-told-you-so kind of way.
It was of no surprise to anyone who has worked with him in the last seven or eight years that his reaction was quite the contrary, humble and gracious.
Gatland’s consistent backing of Warburton has drawn accusations of favouritism from cynics, with some on social media drawing the teacher’s pet analogy.
But the Kiwi has backed his man for a reason. Make that reasons.
As preparation cranks up for the biggest match in the lives of all those fortunate enough to be involved in Auckland this coming weekend, there will be no tea cups thrown, no doors head-butted, no Churchillian speeches from Warburton.
Instead, he will do as he always has, he’ll lead by example, on and off the pitch. He’ll set exactly the right tone.
Four years ago, when the Lions won the decisive third Test against Australia no touring player wore as broad a smile as Warburton.
He hadn’t played on that intoxicating night. A hamstring injury in Melbourne the week before had forced him to watch from the stands in a suit.
But as the red jerseys celebrated on the pitch, and the red army in the stands, Warburton’s all-for-one mantra, so synonymous with the whole Lions ethos, allowed him to take every bit as much ownership of the success as those who had played for 80 minutes.
At Eden Park on Saturday his suit will remain on the dressing room peg. This time it will be Warburton caked in sweat and dirt after what is shaping up to be the rugby dust-up to end them all.
If the Lions have won, Warburton will look at those in shirt and tie and view their influence over the course of six arduous weeks as no different to that of himself.
It’s an outlook that will be intangible – and yet, in its own way, it will be every bit as important as the tries, conversions and penalties that go into the record books forever.
Very, very few players genuinely have that outlook. That’s why Warburton is captain. That’s why the 2017 Lions have a shot at immortality.