Split loyalty but Sam is glad to be leading Wales

SAM WARBURTON will captain Wales against England at Twickenham tomorrow - eight years after cheering Martin Johnson's men to World Cup glory, writes Sam Peters.

The 22-year-old flanker, whose father was raised in Birmingham before moving to Cardiff as a child, insists he holds no ill feeling towards a nation often derided in his homeland.

"I have a number of relatives in the north of England, and my grandmother speaks with a Yorkshire accent," he said.

"I never thought about making myself available for England but I did support them in the 2003 World Cup in Australia.

"I am not like a lot of other Welshmen who have an anti‑English attitude, even if my thoughts this week are about beating them on Saturday."

Warburton was a 14-year-old schoolboy playing football in the same team as current Tottenham and Wales star Gareth Bale when England conquered the rugby world under Sir Clive Woodward.

But after rising rapidly through the rugby playing ranks, he stands on the brink of captaining his country at Twickenham at the tender age of 22.

"I feel relaxed about being captain," he said.
"The fact it is England will give it extra spice. Everyone mentions what happened at Twickenham four years ago when we lost 62-5 in a warm up game, and we are keen to rectify that."