O’BRIEN AND SEXTON KEY FOR WARBURTON
FIREMAN Sam is in the building. An All Blacks fire to quench. Warburton wasn’t Warren Gatland’s man last week when the flames were fanned — Peter O’Mahony was. Now, though, the Irishman has been stood down, burnt by the experience. It’s an unpleasant situation. One captain hooked for another. But there was seemingly nothing but goodwill between the pair. Same as last week when the roles were reversed. ‘Pete was one of the first guys I wanted to go and congratulate when they picked that first Test team,’ explained Warburton. ‘He has done a brilliant job over the past two Saturdays as captain and everyone in the squad would agree. ‘Today he was one of the first players to come up to me. All the players in this tour — it’s not about the captaincy — it is very much team first. Pick the squad, then the captain. ‘All the players appreciate that and we want to be part of a winning Test series. When I look back at 2013 [in Australia], I don’t look at players not involved in that last Test as non-series winners. You all are.’ Tomorrow’s contributions will have a twin-pronged focus — put manners on the penalty count and don’t take a backward step. Those were the two fire-igniting evils that singed the Lions, muting a roar that now needs to spring back to life or the series will be lost with a match to spare. ‘The two big points that came out this week were the games where we have done well, the Maori and the Crusaders, we kept the penalty count to single figures which wasn’t the case last Saturday. ‘In rugby, it’s very much a case of 99 times out of 100 the more physical side wins. People might not like to hear that, but it’s the truth. Being physical doesn’t mean beating people up, it means your scrum is dominant, your lineout is dominant, your breakdown is dominant and that’s the majority of the game really apart from the kicking side. ‘The guys that have been brought in can add a bit of strength to that.’ Two of the appetisers that have Warburton’s taste buds awake are Irish-flavoured, the prospect of a first-ever run over the course of two tours with Sean O’Brien and the introduction of Johnny Sexton at 10. ‘I’ve played against him [O’Brien] many times and I’ve been in the same Lions squad as him twice but I’ve never had the privilege of playing with him. He’s somebody who I regard as one of the best sevens I’ve played against really, so I’m looking forward to that partnership,’ he said, before switching to the 10/12 Sexton/Owen Farrell axis which Gatland is pinning so much hope on. ‘It worked well against the Crusaders. From a forward’s perspective, it’s great when you get up from working hard at a scrum or a lineout and that ball has been sent forward 30, 40 metres and you’re playing the territory game well — which should go well for us. That’s obviously going to be part of the tactic. ‘You have probably got three of the best players at game-management in the world in Conor [Murray], Owen and Johnny.’