Why Sam Warburton really stayed in Wales

Modest Sam Warburton insists he is not guaranteed his place against France next weekend and revealed how a dog kept him firmly at home in Wales.
The captain is one of just 15 players left at Wales’ Vale of Glamorgan HQ this week after the mass exodus of team-mates to their clubs in England and France. And Warburton admitted how close he came to following them.
Just over two years ago, the then British Lions captain could have doubled his money had he become a Galactico by joining Leigh Halfpenny at Toulon. Warburton told The Rugby Paper: “I went out there and looked at their training facilities and I met the club owner, Mourad Boudjellal. He was a nice guy, quite chilled.
“I went there to see if I would want to go over. It was nice and warm but I realised it was a decision that should based on where I would be happiest, where I would play my best rugby and where I would get looked after.
“I was chatting to my wife and she said you could go to France and have a nice lifestyle and get paid a lot more, or stay at home with the family and get a dog. That last bit was the final nail in the coffin so I signed with the WRU.”
With labradoodle Ledley, named after former Spurs captain Ledley King, watching from home, Warburton will equal Ryan Jones’ Championship record of captaining Wales 16 times in the Six Nations, when he is picked to face Les Bleus. But despite being handed the armband for a fifth successive Six Nations campaign, he refuses to regard himself as a shoo-in amid questions over the back-row make-up.
“I never want to fall into the trap of becoming complacent,” he says. “I said to Warren five years ago that my one problem with being captain is not being complacent and thinking you’re going to play every game.
“I know that if I was under par and not the right man to start, Gats would not pick me. I want to go into team meetings not knowing if I’m going to be starting for sure. I like to be treated the same as all the other players.
“I never regard myself as Wales captain between campaigns. I like that news to be broken so I feel I’ve earned it rather than it being a given. There are so many guys in the squad who could be captain, like Jamie Roberts, Dan Biggar and Alun Wyn Jones, who would be a contender to captain the Lions if it was tomorrow.”
Warburton admits he was only 70 per cent fit when he returned from injury for the start of the Six Nations. That could partly explain why he and Justin Tipuric have combined for just two turnovers in two games so far.
“I am not as sharp as I was in the World Cup when I was match fit and getting games. Warren and the coaches know that,” said Warburton. “I’ve been working on my fitness and I will be five or ten per cent better each game – there’s definitely more to come.
“We have identified we need to get more turnovers. One thing which is difficult is referees are really hot on guys competing on the floor. I’ve been penalised twice with tough calls and it puts you off competing for the ball.
“But if I’m picked, I’m going to go a lot harder on the floor than I have done in the past few games and go back to what I am really good at, what has worked in the last few years. I know I have to up that side of my game.”
While Warburton competes with Tipuric, Dan Lydiate and James King for the flanks, he admits one player stands apart as the first name on the team-sheet. “You can chop and change the four flankers but Toby has to play at No.8,” he said.
“He is one of the most gifted players I’ve played with. There is not a skill in rugby he cannot do. We have competition all across the team but Toby is out there on his own at the moment. He is world-class. I’d put him up with Sergio Parisse and Kieran Read as the three best No.8s in the world.”
Wales will look for a fifth win in a row against France, their best run since 1957, in Cardiff though they face a Les Bleus side riding high from wins over Italy and Ireland.
“If we win our next three games, we will regain the Championship. We have a good recent record against France but there is not a French team I have ever written off.”
MATT LLOYD