News about Sam Warburton

SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: Anyone with an interest in the competitiveness of international rugby in the northern hemisphere acknowledges the Six Nations should have promotion and relegation. The only ones who don't seem to be of that view are the protectionists at the head of the leading unions who want to maintain the Championship as a closed shop to ensure they are not put at sporting or financial risk by dropping out of the European game's top tier. Such an attitude flies completely in the face of what professional sport should be about. It should be about jeopardy and danger and the need to deliver on the big stage when it matters most.

ALEX BYWATER: The Welsh Rugby Union and their Georgian compatriots have begun positive talks over the two teams meeting this autumn after the Lelos laid down a challenge to Warren Gatland's side. Wales finished bottom of the 2024 Six Nations without a win while Georgia were crowned Rugby Europe champions in the tier below for the seventh straight year. With no official play-off for promotion and relegation between the two tournaments as things stand, last month Georgia called on Wales to play them in November. 

ALEX BYWATER: Six Nations hopefuls Georgia have laid down the gauntlet to Wales, the team that finished last year in the Championships, with a plan that the two teams meet in a fixture double header. Wales' Warren Gatland's Wales lost all five of their games in the 2024 tournament, making them the worst team in the top tier of European Test competition this year. Georgia, on the other hand, won Rugby Europe for the seventh year in a row last Sunday after defeating Portugal. Rugby Europe is the international championship in the northern hemisphere, which is run below the Six Nations. Many have long called for promotion and relegation between the two teams by a play-off.

Warburton viewed Glasgow's first victory since 2002 as "shocking from a cultural standpoint," and gave an insight into why Gregor Townsend's team was struggling to mount a consistent threat to the Six Nations Championship this year. In a derogatory review of his squad's newspaper column and later on the BBC's Rugby Union Daily website, the former Wales captain said Scotland would never win a Championship with this group of players.

ALEX BYWATER IN PARIS: Richard Cockerill has been used to being at the center of Six Nations 'Super Saturday,' but 24 hours after the 2024 Championship ended, he was lifting silverware for the first time as Georgia head coach after finding success on Rugby Europe's 'Super Sunday'. Former England assistant Cockerill's first season as Lelos head coach saw his team defeated Portugal 36-10 in Paris. This was their seventh straight Rugby Europe title. Georgia has been accustomed to dominated the tier below the Six Nations.

Many within the sport are well aware of the notion of the 'rugby family,' the belief that it encourages a collective spirit and shared values among its members. Anybody seems to have dismissed the suggestion. I beg to differ and have first-hand knowledge of why. Rugby in the United Kingdom is also dealing with issues both on and off the field.

Warren Gatland has stepped in to growing calls for the establishment of an Anglo-Welsh league in an attempt to tap a lot of public enthusiasm for traditional cross-border fixtures. Excess crowds from Bath and Harlequins to Cardiff have gathered at the Arms Park in this season's Champions Cup, creating a raucous atmosphere that has been highly praised by previous and present players. Following Quins' ride to Cardiff last weekend, former Wales captain Sam Warburton pleaded with administrators to find a way to make an Anglo-Welsh league happen.

ALEX BYWATER: On ITV, an average of 3.9 million viewers watched the last eight matches. It was spectacular viewing. England fans are gearing up for another match royale as England prepares to upset South Africa and advance to their second straight final. Ex-Wales captain and two-time Lions skipper Sam Warburton told Mail Sport, 'Rugby today is just brutal.' I watched the South Africa and Ireland game and last weekend's quarter-finals, wondering what someone who had never seen rugby before would have made of it.' 'I'm sure they were thinking, "What on earth is happening?Is this just outright thuggery?" The accidents were severe. I was out of breath watching it. The 2009 Lions tour brought rugby's physical fitness to a new level, and several of the games at the World Cup have taken it to a different level.' Warburton, a former openside flanker, knows more about the requirements of international rugby than ever before, having played arguably the most physically demanding position on the track. In 2018, he had to return due to injuries.

Wales was kicked out of this year's tournament at the quarter-final stage, losing to Argentina in what former captain Warburton has described as a 'opportunity sacrificed.' Gatland revealed on Wednesday that he would remain in charge for the next four years, a move that Warburton believes will be great for the Welsh game. Argentina was a chance missed for certain,' the two-time British & Irish Lions skipper said. However, a quarter-final is obviously representative of where Wales is right now, if you take a look at the bigger picture. A semi-final would have been extremely helpful.'

After leading Wales into the World Cup quarterfinals at the age of just 23, Jac Morgan has been dubbed the man who 'can literally do it all.' Morgan's ascension to Warren Gatland's skipper has been illuminating. He was playing rugby part-time and working as an apprentice engineer when he failed to secure a senior Scarlets job four years ago. The tough-tackling flanker was left out of Wales' summer tour of South Africa completely, last year. Now, he is his country's top male, aspiring to tournament glory.

BYWATER IN LYON: Tuesday, February 21. The Wales squad was spelled out by a crunch meeting at their Vale Resort training base earlier this year. Warren Gatland's players were told in no uncertain terms that if they did not play their Six Nations match with England, they would not only cost the Welsh Rugby Union close to £10 million and bankrupt the governing body, but also rob rookie back Mason Grady of a potential Test debut. There was muzzling and indignation in the air. The emotions were high. Wales' players were split on whether or not they should strike or not, but there was widespread outrage at the sexy and financial turmoil plaguing their country's rugby scene. Things needed to change, according to an acknowledgement.

ALEX BYWATER: On Thursday morning, Wales' World Cup rookies Christ Tshiunza and Mason Grady could barely remember where they were standing at a top-table press conference in Stade de Nice. Both players are in their first senior global showpiece and have come a long way in a short time, but Tshiunza, the Exeter forward, has a special affinity. The 21-year-old was born in Kinshasa, Congo's capital, only after moving to Wales in 2010 where he and his French-speaking relatives shared a one-bedroom apartment. He is now in France for his first World Cup appearance.

BY ALEX BYWATER IN VERSAILLES: They're the former engineering apprentice and budding young gymnast who are both colleagues and teammates and preparing to lead Wales as co-captains at the World Cup. Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake are seen as the future of Welsh rugby at 23 and 24 respectively. And yet, the pair are also its ambassadors as the men in charge of the 2023 global showpiece.

ALEX BYWATER: Jac Morgan was voted Wales' top writer for a long time and capped what has been a great few days for him by being named as the year's best Welsh writer. Morgan captained his country for the first time at senior level in a World Cup warm-up against England on Saturday and his side put on a man-of-the-match effort in a 20-9 win for his team. The 23-year-old's ascension to skipper came on the back of an impressive 2022-23 campaign, one for which he has been praised by Wales' rugby media. Morgan was forced to miss Wales' tour of South Africa by then head coach Wayne Pivac last summer, but he has excelled both in international rugby and in his region Ospreys.

BYWATER Cwmtwrch: As Jac Morgan captains his country for the first time in a senior international, the tiny Welsh village of Cwmtwrch would trade grief for celebration on Saturday. Flanker Morgan, 23, the first to take hold of a rugby ball in the Swansea Valley, played with the grandson of Clive Rowlands, who also hails from the village.

As Warren Gatland announced: "I'm telling you this team will do something really special." The bounce returned in Gatland's step on Thursday after a rocky start to his second stint as Wales head coach in the Six Nations earlier this year. On the first weekend of the summer's World Cup warm-ups, Wales will welcome Steve Borthwick's England to Cardiff, where rookie flanker Jac Morgan will captain.

We've been preparing for England's game against England in the hottest weather I've ever seen. It's been 42 degrees, and the workers have been bringing ice lollies and squirting us with water to cool down during breaks in training. The Gloria Sports Arena in Antalya, Turkey, has been our training base. It's an amazing facility that has been used by a variety of sports. This week, Nafi Thiam, the Belgian heptathlete with two Olympic gold medals, was on display in Brussels. I had a chance to practise my French with her! The Real Madrid academy is also here. All these kids turned up in business class and we felt a little envious after our EasyJet flight was stuck on the runway at Bristol for three hours!

BY ALEX BYWATER IS A BYWTER BYWATER — The youth Wales team, which had lost some of its senior figures in 2011, reached a World Cup semi-final with Sam Warburton, a new captain. Even though time will tell if a similar tournament finish materializes for Warren Gatland's team, it is certain that history is repeating itself. It's almost like a carbon copy of 2011's Matthew Rees' retirement.' 'I opened the door for myself,' said Warburton, who captained Wales at the age of 22, and the Welsh in their war against Wales at just 22.

ALEX BYWATER: With talks over the establishment of a new world league this week, rugby's top-two nations have reiterated their call for more games against the game's elite. Representatives from rugby's top nations are in London to investigate, among other aspects, the fall window extension from three to four weeks, and the potential shortening of the Six Nations from seven to six weeks. The Rugby Championship is now being considered. It all forms part of the Six Nations plus New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, and Argentina's bid to establish a new world league, which will launch in 2026 and include the six nations listed above.

In a crucial Six Nations showdown, England will face Wales in a crucial Six Nations showdown, with the hosts coming off the back of a historic week for the national team. After players threatened to strike due to a freeze in contracts, Wales's game against England was put in jeopardy. Following an agreement with the WRU, the Wales players posed a threat to strike for the Six Nations game against England on Wednesday.

RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: Steve Thompson was on the phone the other night. Despite all, he was in a good mood. He's figured out that finding out how much money he'll expend before his deteriorated brain hits him with the bill is the biggest thing. Even when you're forgetting so much else, it's still a better Christmas than the previous one, which is why he, Steph, and their four children had a happier Christmas than the last one. It's why he knows how to take a daytime nap if he goes on holiday now. It's also why he decided to cancel his plans last Monday and Tuesday, knowing he'd need to recover from the exhaustion of watching England play Italy at Twickenham on Sunday.

Former Wales captain Sam Warburton believes players have been "feeling humiliated" by continuing confusion over contracts, and that if the squad chooses to strike ahead of their Six Nations match against England, they will be backed by the team. On Wednesday, Angry Wales stars held an emergency meeting with Welsh Rugby Union interim Chief Executive Nigel Walker, who had a deadline of next Wednesday to end the sport's contractual confusion. Players who are out of contract at the end of the season are unlikely to be able to find new contracts right now, considering the uncertainty regarding future regional squad budgets.

Sam Warburton, a two-time Lions captain, believes Steve Borthwick will bring the good times back to English rugby and make a Six Nations championship bid in what could be a 'honeymoon' first campaign. Borthwick took over as England head coach from the fired Eddie Jones in December, and this week named his first team ahead of the 2023 Championship, which starts next month. Warburton, a former Wales flanker and skipper, served under Borthwick as an assistant coach on the 2017 Lions tour of New Zealand.

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