1
When news of Sam Warburton’s retirement from professional rugby union arrived on Wednesday morning it came in typically dignified and understated fashion.
ADVERTISEMENT
He spoke of the pride at representing the Cardiff Blues, Wales and the British & Lions, and thanked the friends, family, teachers and coaches who had helped him on his journey from Llanishen Fach Primary School to becoming his country’s most capped captain and two-time Lions skipper.
There was gratitude for the role Wales coach Warren Gatland has played in his rise but there was no grandstanding, just pride in the glittering player career that has ended at just 29.
Warburton had hoped to return to the field following an enforced sabbatical last season as he battled knee and neck injuries, but ultimately the physical toll of eight years spent at Test rugby’s coalface has proved too great.
The final image of him on a rugby pitch will remain the one in which, as Lions captain, he raised the series trophy together with All Blacks skipper Kieran Read, unsure whether to celebrate or despair.
An initial sense of disappointment in letting a shot at a series victory over New Zealand slip by has since dissipated to be replaced by pride, and that July evening at Eden Park should ultimately rank as the crowning glory of a brilliant career.
ADVERTISEMENT
To have affected the second and third Tests of that Lions series as he did, considering the immense strain his body was already under, was nothing short of heroic. His movement might not have been as sharp and agile as it had been four years earlier in Australia, but his calm, assured leadership was integral in seeing his side over the line.
Warburton’s elevation to the Wales captaincy had been something of a gamble ahead of the 2011 Rugby World Cup. But it was one that paid off handsomely for Gatland and Wales.
His performance in defence and at the breakdown alongside Dan Lydiate and Taulupe Faletau in the quarterfinal win over Ireland in Wellington remains one of his finest in the red of Wales. It also set the tone for the next four years, which must rank as the peak of his career.
ADVERTISEMENT
In that time Warburton led Wales to fourth place at the World Cup and two Six Nations championships – including a Grand Slam – while he captained the Lions to series victory over the Wallabies in 2013.
His best performances on a rugby pitch both came in the year of that successful tour of Australia.
In March 2013, Warburton switched to the blindside to accommodate Justin Tipuric in the Wales back-row and the pair eviscerated England’s Grand Slam hopes. Three months later he took on Michael Hooper in Melbourne and did more than any other Lion in the second Test to prevent the Wallabies from sending the series to a decider.
Warburton was Gatland’s eyes and ears on the pitch for both Wales and the Lions, the embodiment of the committed, physical approach the New Zealander favours, but also a level-headed leader he knew he could trust – and other players would follow.
Warburton missed the decisive third Test of that 2013 Lions tour with a hamstring injury, the 10th major injury of 20 that he would suffer in just nine years.
Having made a career out the breakdown, perfecting the art of the ‘jackal’, it can come as little surprise that the bulk of his injuries affected his knees and shoulders.
Warburton once estimated that he would hit between 40 and 45 rucks on both sides of the ball during a game. The tax on his body, having done that in 79 Test matches, is difficult to compute.
Warburton bows out before his 30th birthday but with few regrets and as a legend of the British game. The only ‘what-if’ from a decade-long spell at the top being that unfortunate red card in the 2011 World Cup semi-final against France.
The man himself will not think too long about that, however, as he spends time with his young family, his dog, Ledley, and plots his next trip to watch Tottenham.
Warburton, the surprise selection as Wales captain, has proven himself to be one of his country’s and the Lions’ finest leaders and players of this or any generation. He deserves all the plaudits, and rest, that will now come his way.
Comments on RugbyPass
You probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
12 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
1 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
1 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
4 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
16 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
16 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
4 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
3 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
16 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
16 Go to comments