The few negative social media voices were drowned out by a wave of enthusiasm from the Welsh men and women in the street and, significantly, at the Millennium Stadium.
The Cardiff Blues openside was the first player to sign one of the new deals designed to keep the best talent in Wales but a group of top class players could soon follow after being offered contracts to ply their trade here.
A new contract? Yes. A change of direction? Most certainly not. Sam remains certain that his new contractual status is good news for him and that undoubtedly means good news for Welsh rugby.
There was plenty of nonsense spoken at the time about the Wales captain being sent out to pasture if he signed a contract with the governing body. At times, it got very personal. Unnecessary but, unfortunately,
indicative of the social media world in which we live.
“There was a lot said about the central contract situation but, to be honest, the only criticism came from a couple of persistent voices who wanted to be heard on Twitter,” said Warburton. “And that didn’t worry me.
Ninety per cent of people were great.
“I remember, shortly after I signed, there were people beeping at me and pulling over to say ‘well done’. It was mad. You would have thought we had won the World Cup!”
The acid test, however, came during the Six Nations Championship when Warburton came off the bench against Italy. It was the nation’s opportunity to voice their feeling.
“When my name was announced, the cheer was unbelievable. That showed what the fans really thought of my decision. And it was really nice to know what they thought of me,” said Warburton.
“Of course, in the weeks and months leading up to me agreeing to the contract, I had to think long and hard about the situation. I had to consider what life would be like if I chose to go and play somewhere like Toulon.
“In the end, it was a spot of pillow talk with Rachel (Sam’s then girlfriend and now wife) that did the trick.
“I said shall I go for it and leave the family behind – there are eight separate family households within half a mile of where we live – and go and play abroad or shall we stay here and have a dog.
“It was that simple. I never really wanted to leave home, but I had to consider it. When Rachel said let’s
have a dog, that was that. I knew that would make me happy.”
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