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Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
Katie Sands

The moment the stadium erupted for Wales' familiar new waterboy during Six Nations win over Italy

Sam Warburton is no stranger to on-field action at the Principality Stadium.

The former Wales and Lions captain, who amassed 74 caps during his playing career, was in attendance at Wales' opening Six Nations encounter against Italy on Saturday - but this time as a coach.

He is a new recruit for new Wales boss Wayne Pivac, with the former Cardiff Blue having joined the new coaching set-up as technical advisor at the breakdown and in defence.

Sam Warburton received a very warm reception for his on-field appearance (BBC)

A familiar face to the almost 70,000 fans in their seats inside the stadium and to the huge numbers tuning in on TV, it's no surprise to see - and hear - such a warm reception when he took to the pitch to offer Pivac's players refreshment.

Warburton spent the entire match prowling the sidelines and offering the players' words of advice and encouragement during breaks in play.

Warburton retired in July 2018 with various injuries over the years taking their toll.

Earlier this year, he told WalesOnline of his new job with Wales: "My area is breakdown attack, breakdown defence – both sides of the ball.

“Byron [Hayward] is doing the defensive structures, I’m not interfering with that. I want to aid him by having a really efficient breakdown defence."

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