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Warburton's Top 14 offer: 'It would have been 2 or 3 times what I was earning in Wales'

Sam Warburton, former Wales International Rugby Player and TV presenter looks on as he works for Prime Video prior during the Autumn Nations Series match between Wales and South Africa at Principality Stadium on November 06, 2021 in Cardiff, Wales. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

Former Wales, and British and Irish Lions captain Sam Warburton has revealed why he turned down a possible move to Toulon in 2013 despite being offered “two or three” times his salary in Wales.

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Joining Mike Bubbins on the BBC’s ‘Scrum V Top 5’, the Welsh great revealed how he flew out to Toulon shortly after being named Lions captain.

While the wheels were in motion over a move to the Cote d’Azur for the flanker, he revealed that he turned down the option as it was not his home, stating that he believed he would play better if he was at home.

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The 74-cap Wales international added that he did not think it was a good look if the captain of Wales was playing in France “for more money”, so he decided to remain with Cardiff until the end of his career.

Toulon, meanwhile, went on to win the Champions Cup later that year, the first of three in a row, while Warburton would lead the Lions to a series victory over Australia.

Fixture
Internationals
Wales
07:40
10 Nov 24
Fiji
All Stats and Data

“In 2013, so when I was named Lions captain, I guess your stock is fairly high when you’re a Lions captain, profile and stuff.

“That was when Toulon, they asked me to go out, just before they won three Champions Cups, they wanted me to go out and play seven. I remember I flew out there with my agent, stayed overnight, went out there, and I don’t mind saying my take home would have been two or three times what I was earning in Wales.

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“But I remember thinking, my wife rang me up when I was out there, she said ‘how is it?’ I said ‘you’ve got to get me home’. She said ‘what?’ I said ‘it’s not Rhiwbina. It’s not home, it’s not home.’

“I always thought if I’m home, I’ll play better, and I just love my home comforts and I’m very close with my family so I want to be close to my family. Plus, I was national captain, I didn’t think it would look very good if I’d shot off to France for probably what would have been for more money.

“So I thought it’s not the best thing for my career, I’ll have more longevity if I stay at home, I want to be a one-club man at Cardiff. I was only ever going to play for Cardiff.”

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Flankly 2 hours ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

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