Highs and lows do not come much more extreme than a victorious Lions tour and the first-half performance of the Cardiff Blues at Exeter in the Heineken Cup last weekend. Sam Warburton, the tourists' captain, was due in London on Thursday to publicise his autobiography that has been updated to include the story of the success in Australia but instead he had to attend a Cardiff Blues bonding session after the abject defeat against the Chiefs.
Warburton, below, has enjoyed considerable success with Wales: two Six Nations titles and a World Cup semi-final in the last three years, following on from the 2008 grand slam success, have made it the most successful period for the national side since the golden era of the 1970s. But at regional level the story has been a less jolly tale.
"It is unacceptable for a team to be 30 points down in the first half of a game and we had a hard debrief on Tuesday," said Warburton, the Blues and Wales flanker. "We were honest with each other and a lot of it was down to uncharacteristic, individual mistakes, such as missed tackles, which can be easily corrected. The players have to take responsibility for what happened in the opening 40 minutes at Exeter: the coaches went through the game plan beforehand and we did not implement it at all."
The Heineken Cup champions, Toulon, are at the Arms Park on Saturday with their international array of talent, accumulated through a salary cap nearly three times that of the Blues. "I would far rather face opponents like that than a team you are expected to beat easily," said Warburton. "The pressure will be off and we can go out there and enjoy ourselves. It is important we restore pride and we owe it to ourselves to do far better."
Warburton was speaking at the launch of Wales's new kit, an all-red affair, before next month's international campaign when South Africa, Argentina, Tonga and Australia visit the Millennium Stadium. For all their form in the Six Nations, Wales have not beaten a major southern hemisphere nation since 2008 and last year suffered the ignominy of losing all four autumn Tests.
"South Africa will be a massive start for us," he said. "They did well in the Rugby Championship and we have tended in recent years to start campaigns slowly. We have to be ready for the first game, replicating the intensity we have in training. I have not played against them since the last World Cup: they have a very big back row, which may give us an advantage on the floor, and I always enjoy playing against physical opponents.
"The Lions will have a positive effect on those who were involved [10 Wales players started the final Test, a victory Warburton missed through injury]. "When Kurtley Beale missed that chance to win the first Test for Australia, I remembered saying beforehand that one day a close game would go in our favour. I want that to happen in a Wales jersey. Every year there is optimistic talk we can get a major southern hemisphere scalp and I hope we make it come true this year.
"Maybe the Lions will give us the edge we need: we have always been close to the Sanzar countries. I believe we can win every game: we are competitive against any team in the world and we have good memories of our last performance at the Millennium Stadium and we want to repeat the mentality we had that day against England. It does not come with the click of a finger: it is something Warren [Gatland] and the coaches have instilled from the moment they became involved with us.
"While it will not happen every week, as much as you want it to, it was great to see the guys still pressing England when we had a big lead and that is the attitude you want: it is what the All Blacks display – never take your foot off the pedal. It is the best way to approach matches and if we get in that position again, I hope we do the same. We have a lot of experience in the side and a backline that is young and settled with good players coming through."
Warburton hopes to sign a new contract with Cardiff Blues when the future of European club rugby is sorted out, and is not inclined to go elsewhere after the Exeter humbling. "I hope we keep getting better as a national side," he said. "No one wants to sit back and enjoy what we have achieved: it is what we do next that is important. In the long term you want to be involved in the World Cup but until we achieve against the major southern hemisphere sides it will always feel that our work is undone. You can do well in the north but to get respect in the world game you have to beat the Sanzar teams and that must be the case this autumn."
