Lions captain Warburton casts doubt over role in opening All Blacks Test

Captain Sam Warburton has conceded he may still miss the British and Irish Lions’ first Test against New Zealand despite recovering from an ankle injury.

Fit-again Warburton will skipper the Lions in Tuesday’s Highlanders clash, but feels he needs to string two or three showings together to hit top form. The Lions have three matches before the first All Blacks Test on June 24, so Warburton admitted he has his work cut out to be ready for that Eden Park showdown.

The 28-year-old believes he must boss the breakdown to fight his way into the Lions’ Test team, as he revealed the lengths to which he went to overcome his ankle problem.

“I definitely need more games. I definitely admit that and I knew that coming into the tour,” said Warburton, who had beaten a knee injury to make the Lions tour in the first place.

“I’ve learned from experience that it takes me at least two games and then the third game I’ll probably be playing some good rugby but Gats (coach Warren Gatland) knew that.

“I’ve received this role as tour captain and I know there’s every chance that I might not even get involved in that first Test because there’s every other player. I see it as I’m tour captain, and if I’ve made the Test then that would be a bonus for me, but I’ve said there’s three Tests to get selected for so it’s not the be-all and end-all with the first one.”

Warburton suffered his ankle problem in the patchy 13-7 Provincial Barbarians win that opened the tour. The Wales flanker has insisted he would sacrifice his own selection chances for the greater good if he felt he was undercooked.

“I’ll be honest with Gats and Gats will be honest with me: if I play Tuesday and I still feel I’m a bit undercut, then I might not be ready for that first Test,” said Warburton.

“Maybe that would be the situation, or maybe I could have a blinder on Tuesday and feel absolutely fine so we’ll see how it goes really.

“I’ll be perfectly honest with Warren and if I feel I need more games then I’ll tell him if I don’t feel ready. And if I don’t need anything more then I’ll obviously let him know that with a good performance.”

He added: “When I play well and I am match-fit, I am aggressive in the tackle, I’ll contribute handful of good carries, and you become a lineout option.

“And more importantly, which hasn’t really been a factor in the last three games, is turnovers.

“We haven’t seen a whole lot of turnovers. You’ve got to be able to do everything, but you’ve got to bring a specialist element and I guess my one specialist element is the contact area.

“I guess I have to deliver in that area on Tuesday. That’s my role of expertise.”