Warburton targets England

Sam Warburton will captain Wales against England at Twickenham on Saturday - eight years after cheering Martin Johnson's men to World Cup glory.

Warburton, whose London-born father Jeremy lived in Birmingham before moving to Cardiff as a boy, does not view the English as public enemy number one.

"I have a number of relatives in the north, and my grandmother speaks with a Yorkshire accent," said the Cardiff Blues flanker. "I never thought about making myself available for England, but I did support them in the 2003 World Cup in Australia. I am not like a lot of other Welshmen who have an anti-English attitude, even if my thoughts this week are about beating them on Saturday."

Warburton was at high school playing soccer in the same team as current Tottenham and Wales star Gareth Bale when England conquered the rugby world.

But he is rapidly making a name for himself with an oval ball, having already won 15 caps and now ready to skipper Wales instead of an injured Matthew Rees, a task he filled effortlessly against the Barbarians in June.

Warburton is just 22, but even though Wales possess such star names as Shane Williams, Jamie Roberts, James Hook and Mike Phillips, current form suggests he could easily be the first name written on coach Warren Gatland's team-sheet.

"I feel more relaxed about being captain than I did the first time - it will be a bit easier," he added. "It will be a step up from the Barbarians, and the fact it is England will give it extra spice.

"Everyone mentions what happened at Twickenham four years ago (Wales were humbled 62-5 in a World Cup warm-up Test), and we are keen to rectify that.

"But we are about looking forwards, not backwards, concentrating on the positive. This is effectively our first game of the season, and there will be some sore bodies on Sunday.

"We have got into game-mode this week after focusing all summer on training, and we are confident we can put in a good performance at Twickenham."