“I’ve got all sorts of ambitions,” Sam Warburton says on an autumnal morning in Cardiff as the turning of the leaves and a creeping chill in the air concentrates his mind. These can be beautiful days, full of different colours and moods, but the changing seasons are also strangely warming. The looming heat of battle, with the autumn internationals starting on Saturday when Wales play Australia, inspires Warburton – the clear favourite to lead the Lions in New Zealand next summer.
“Everyone sets goals and I’ve probably got five left I still want to achieve,” the 28-year-old Wales captain says. “I would love to win a league title with Cardiff Blues – the club I’ve always played for. I’d also love to win another Six Nations [after Wales and Warburton won a grand slam in 2012 and the 2013 championship] because I’ve realised how hard it is. In the last three years we’ve come so close but haven’t managed another title. The 100-cap milestone is the next goal. I’m on 67. That’s something I will always chase. And then I’d love to play in another World Cup and Lions tour. I’m not saying I’m going to achieve all those things but when I come into training, I have thought: ‘What are you really chasing?’ I’d love to do those five things before my career is over.”
A desire to achieve grand ambitions burns inside Warburton but he is also one of the nicest men in sport. He has been tempted to leave his home club and the often fractious Welsh game but it is significant that, in listing his five grand aims, Warburton should start with a local dream. “I’ve always said I’d find it more rewarding to stay and battle it out to win one trophy with the Blues rather than go to a more successful club and perhaps win a few,” Warburton says as he looks over the Arms Park, having just signed a new dual contract committing himself to club and country. “I feel like I owe it to Cardiff because I’ve been contracted here since I was 16. I’ve been an employee 12 years – which is such a long time. So that would be really rewarding.”
Warburton’s Blues bond is obvious but barring injury or an unexpected loss of form, it seems likely he will be Warren Gatland’s choice to captain the Lions. Is Gatland keeping in close touch with him? “No. I haven’t really spoken to Warren since we were in New Zealand [with Wales last summer]. We had a meeting as a squad before he was announced as Lions coach at the Vale hotel. It was a quick debrief of the tour for an hour – and then we went back to our regions and there’s been no contact since then.”
Wales played well in patches in New Zealand and were ahead in the first Test at half-time – and level on points during the interval of the second Test. They still lost the series 3-0 as New Zealand gathered momentum during the long run of victories which culminated in a world record when, two Saturdays ago, the All Blacks won their 18th consecutive Test.
“We had good possession and territory and scored tries,” Warburton remembers. “Three in the second Test [and two in the first]. You can score tries against New Zealand but they have the best attack in the world by a considerable margin. In hindsight, there is some consolation other teams are finding them difficult to contain. I guess we can look back and think maybe our performances were better than we initially thought. They’re playing tier-one nations away from home and they get to that hour mark …”
Warburton shakes his head. “I’m not sure what is going on. They just go up another gear. It was difficult this summer but we’ve seen them do that against Australia, Argentina and South Africa.”
Can Warburton feel the increased power of New Zealand in the second half? “It’s weird. Half-times have been really positive. You go out for the second half really confident you can kick on. But there will be a few mistakes and they’ll score a try. Maybe those mistakes get made because you are fatigued and the transition from attack to defence is more difficult. New Zealand are the world’s best counterattackers so you make two or three errors and the game’s gone.
“I made one myself in the second Test. It was from a kick-off and Aaron Smith threw a dummy and I bought it. I’ve never made that mistake before. They scored a try and I have to put my hand up for that one. It was an uncharacteristic mistake and the same thing happened to a couple of other players. Their bench had a fantastic impact as well. It’s crazy to think how many good players New Zealand have got.”
Warburton approaches the likelihood of leading the Lions with sensible caution. “Any Lions tour would be great,” he says, “but after this one it’s South Africa [in 2021]. I’ll be 32 then and the Lions are going to the most physical rugby country in the world. I don’t even know whether I’m going to be playing international rugby at that age – never mind a Lions tour. So this [New Zealand] tour is the one. But it’s difficult because you have no idea, when it comes to selection. You watch Sky Sports with everyone else in Britain to find out if you’re in that squad. You haven’t got a clue.”
Surely the captain is always called by the head coach before the squad is announced? “I presume the captain will get a phone call,” Warburton says. “That happened to me in 2013 but the rest of the squad had to watch the telly. It’s really difficult because you don’t want to get your hopes up in case you don’t get picked. So I’m looking ahead and there is a Wales tour this summer to Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. In my head I’ve been thinking that would be an awesome tour. That’s what you’re aiming for and everything above that would be a bonus.”
There is a fascinating mix at work here. In the midst of counting off five lofty ambitions which would complete his legacy as a great rugby player, Warburton chooses to suggest his immediate objective is to make the Welsh tour of the Pacific Islands. I point out that the last time we met, not long after he captained the Lions on their series-winning tour of Australia in 2013, he had admitted he was already looking ahead to New Zealand.
“I find it easy to talk about the 2013 tour because you’ve done it,” he admits. “With 2017 you don’t want to jinx yourself. But 2013 was awesome and it’s amazing when you’re in the team huddle and you see that quality of player around you. It’s an honour just to be in the same circle as those players. It’s special because of that reason.”
Warburton’s reluctance to talk about his probable role in New Zealand is understandable. Just as he needs to shun complacency, Warburton is wary of the way in which injury can derail even the most determined players. He has been on the sidelines after needing surgery to repair a fractured cheekbone he suffered on 1 October and will still not be fit to face Australia.
A recent list of Warburton injuries suggests that, over the past nine years, he has endured 19 serious blows. But he now downplays their severity. “Some of those have only been for a few weeks. But, yeah, I’ve had five operations – a knee, both shoulders, two on my face. The knee was only two months and the facial ones have been weeks. The two shoulders have kept me out longest but I had nerve problems. There was also the hamstring, with the Lions [in 2013], which kept me out for a good three months. But some players have missed a whole season. God, I don’t want this to happen to me – but say your ACL goes? You can write off nine months straight away. So I feel fortunate.”
His face still shows the wounds from his latest operation. “I don’t mind the odd battle scar,” he says, thinking about his return to the pitch. “The next few weeks I’ll probably have the old Mervyn Davies headband on just to protect it a little. So I’ll rock a bit of a 70s look.”
In a possible homage to the great “Merv the Swerve” there has been talk that Warburton might switch from openside flanker to No8 to replace the injured Taulupe Faletau. “I haven’t had that conversation with anyone. I’ve only heard that my name is apparently in discussions about No8. I don’t know. I played there in the under-19s and under-20s and my first game for the Blues was at eighth-man. I don’t know how I would fare now as I’d be one of the smaller No8s in world rugby. You’re looking at 108kg plus nowadays. So I’d have to bring something different.”
Warburton was once a reluctant leader, but he now relishes the fact that Rob Howley, who is in overall charge while Gatland devotes himself to the Lions, has already named him as Wales captain for next year’s Six Nations. “Rob asked me and I said: ‘Of course.’ I’ve always said my one concern about being named captain is that I never want to become complacent. I always want that fear of not being selected. But one thing about being in the back row it doesn’t mean that you’re guaranteed to play 7. You’ve still got to prove your worth.”
The last years of a rugby player’s career are also difficult. How long does Warburton, who became a father for the first time last summer, expect to keep playing as he chases his remaining ambitions? “You’re the first person to ask me that, which is strange because it’s been going through my head. I’ve always wondered. I’d love to get to the 2019 World Cup. It would be amazing to play three World Cups. All the top players have that longevity and I admire everyone who manages to do that because you realise how hard it is to play international rugby that long.
“Form, injuries and competition with other players make it extremely difficult. But it’s something I’d love to emulate and I’m working very hard towards it. That’s one of the five big goals. After that 2019 crossroads who knows what I will do. But here’s hoping I get to tick off most of them before we reach that point.”
