Everyone’s a winner, except for Eddie Jones.
Sam Warburton must be angling for the 2017 British & Irish Lions captaincy.
The Welsh flanker led the Lions to victory in 2013 and, barring injury or a huge dip in form, should be on the plane to New Zealand next summer.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Warburton was asked for his thoughts on who should lead the Lions. His answer was fence-sitting diplomacy gone spare:
“I think the summer tours will have a bit of a bearing and ideally it would be great to pick two or three coaches out of the home nations.
“From what I have seen I think, Warren Gatland, Joe Schmidt and Vern Cotter are all great coaches. Warren has been the best coach I have played under but it would be great to get the other guys involved.
“It does put them in a strong position, being Kiwis. I think it puts them at an advantage over a coach who has achieved the same things who might be European, for example.”
One imagines that the union chiefs of Wales, Ireland and Scotland would not be best pleased to let their national coaches off for six months to plot the All Blacks’ downfall. The head coach must relinquish national team duties but his back-room staff may be exempt from such requirements.
No mention from Warburton of Jones, who led England to a Grand Slam this year.
Right now, Gatland seems to be in the box seat. Schmidt was pushing him close until this year’s disappointing Six Nations.
Wales and Ireland will take on New Zealand a combined five times over the next seven months. One suspects that if either manages even a solitary win over the world champions, they will push themselves to the top of the queue.
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