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Lions 2017: Selfless Warburton reaps rewards of relinquishing Wales captaincy
Many were bemused when Sam Warburton stepped down as Wales captain in January but three months on there can be no doubt what a shrewd decision that has proved to be.
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Struggling with injuries and a loss of form, the Cardiff Blues flanker was battling to retain his place in the Wales back row for the Six Nations.
Warburton opted to relinquish the captaincy before the tournament, with Alun Wyn Jones replacing him.
The strain of leading his country a record 49 times was affecting the selfless Warburton’s game and he realised the time was right to concentrate on returning to the peak of his powers.
Just a few months later he was introduced as the British and Irish Lions skipper for the tour of New Zealand.
Thanks for all the extremely kind messages. Amazing honour to captain the @lionsofficial again. Squad looks very very strong! #AllForOne
— Sam Warburton (@samwarburton_) April 19, 2017
“Performance has to be the number one priority”, were his words as he explained why he would no longer have the honour of captaining his country.
Warburton’s actions spoke louder than his words in the Six Nations, thriving on the freedom to focus on letting his ability do the talking for Rob Howley’s men.
Howley stated after Warburton’s reign came to an end: “The last six years, Sam has concentrated on being Wales captain, and maybe it’s about being selfish and looking after Sam Warburton. It’s time now that he just looks after himself.”
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The interim Wales coach employed Warburton at blindside flanker, with Justin Tipuric donning the number seven shirt, and the 28-year-old was given a new lease of life minus the captaincy.
He emerged as the favourite to lead the Lions out against the All Blacks in June and July, four years after having the honour in the series victory over Australia.
Gatland knows all about his qualities, which led him to appoint the Cardiff-born workhorse as Lions captain in Australia and raise eyebrows by making him skipper of Wales at the tender age of 22.
The New Zealander said his trusted lieutenant Warburton was “the natural choice” to take the role, having inspired the troops with great effect in Australia.
Your #LionsNZ2017 captain, becoming only the second player after Martin Johnson to lead a second Tour #AllForOne
https://t.co/xYB6DKL5Th pic.twitter.com/upN2YINogk
ADVERTISEMENT— British&Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) April 19, 2017
Looking after number one has certainly paid off for Warburton, who was in a supermarket car park when Gatland called to inform him that he will have much more than bread and milk to think about in the next few months.
Warburton’s immediate aim is to get fully fit as he recovers from a knee injury, but he vowed that he will be ready for the monumental task of facing the world champions in their own backyard.
The popular Warburton’s appointment ensures he will emulate a feat only England legend Martin Johnson has achieved, becoming the second man to have skippered the Lions on two tours.
It seems the penny must have dropped for the Welshman when he mulled over his future prior to the Six Nations and, fitness-permitting, he can look forward to having one of the biggest privileges in sport again.
Watch the every match of the Lions Tour to New Zealand streaming live on rugbypass.com, home of the best online rugby coverage including news, highlights, previews & reviews, live scores, and more!
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments