Warburton, who has led Wales on 20 occasions, follows in the footsteps of Arthur ‘Boxer’ Harding, John Dawes and Phil Bennett who led the 1908, 1971 and 1977 touring parties respectively, after being named as the man to lead the 2013 British and Irish Lions to Hong Kong and Australia.
Lions head coach Warren Gatland announced the 24-year-old as touring captain this morning in London where a 37-strong squad boasts 15 Welshmen, 10 Englishmen, nine Irishmen and three Scotsmen.
“The news today means the Welsh Rugby Union is supplying the head coach, captain, seven back room staff and 15 players to the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia this summer and we are incredibly proud to do so,” said Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Roger Lewis.
“The British and Irish Lions tour captaincy rests on strong and broad shoulders and those shoulders belong to a Welshman, a great rugby player and one of our nation’s favourite sons.
“It is a great credit to Sam that I know he will accept this honour, not just on a personal level, but on behalf of the Welsh nation.
“We are proud of him and we know he, his Welsh colleagues and the rest of the British & Irish Lions squad will do us all proud on tour in Australia.”
Gareth Thomas became the most recent Welshman to lead the Lions in a Test when he took over the captaincy reigns for the second and third Tests against New Zealand in 2005 – after a tour-ending injury to the Irish centre Brian O’Driscoll in the first Test in Christchurch.
Lock Paul O’Connell carried out leadership duties in South Africa four years ago.
Warburton led Wales to the 2011 World Cup semi-finals and a RBS Six Nations title and Grand Slam in 2012.
He also captained Wales once during this year’s RBS Six Nations Championship title victory, with Ryan Jones also leading them three times and prop Gethin Jenkins doing the job in a memorable title-clinching victory over England at the Millennium Stadium.
Warburton was initially injured, missing the win against France in Paris, but then he returned on the bench against Italy, before starting against Scotland and then England in the match which sealed the 2013 title for Wales.
“It’s unbelievable it’s an accolade which very few people are able to achieve,” said Warburton.
“It’s an unbelievable honour. It’s been nine or 10 days since I found out and it’s been eating me alive to tell people.”
Warren Gatland added: “In the last two or three years he has been the most successful captain in the Northern Hemisphere. If you thought about naming the Test side tomorrow at this stage you would think of Sam.”
Wales’ British and Irish Lions contingent: Leigh Halfpenny; Alex Cuthbert, George North, Jonathan Davies, Jamie Robert, Mike Phillips; Gethin Jenkins, Adam Jones, Richard Hibbard, Ian Evans, Alun Wyn Jones, Toby Faletau, Dan Lydiate, Justin Tipuric, Sam Warburton (Captain)
