Sam Warburton has labelled Jac Morgan the front-runner to be Wales' World Cup captain as he backed Warren Gatland to pick a young skipper at this year's World Cup.
Warburton was famously handed the captaincy ahead of the 2011 World Cup at the age of 22, becoming the youngest player to lead Wales at the tournament. However, the openside flanker was a revelation in the role as Wales narrowly missed out on a place in the final.
Warburton's opportunity came after injury to captain Matthew Rees, with the openside leading Wales in the three World Cup warm-ups before being handed the role on a full-time basis.
In that sense, there are parallels to 2023, with another hooker - Ken Owens - ruled out of the tournament through injury having just skippered the side in this year's Six Nations.
As such, Warburton believes another young face could be handed the crucial leadership role in France later this year.
"Matthew Rees pulled out very late before the 2011 World Cup so it's very similar to what's happening now, even if Ken hadn't been announced as World Cup captain," said Canterbury ambassador Warburton. "We're not going to hear who the captain is going to be until after the three warm-up games.
"I wasn't announced as captain until a week or two before we flew out. There's no point lumping the pressure on a captain who, chances are, will be young just to play in the warm-ups and get injured.
"We always lose a couple in those games. If we don't, we'll be very lucky. There's no point naming that guy until afterwards. It's whoever comes through injury free and in form.
"Jac Morgan is probably the one who is touted most often, given his personality type, his performances for Wales and his injury history. That's been good, but so he's durable.
"But I think we'll have to see who comes through these warm-up matches. But someone like Jac Morgan, if I was going to have a stab in the dark and guess who coaches were talking about, he'd be one of the front-runners.
"But if any of those sevens like Tommy Reffell have a good summer and run-up in the warm-up matches, I could see how the co-captain could work. But I think at a World Cup you probably go with one guy. Jac Morgan is probably the front-runner but time will tell."
The other reason why a fresher face seems more likely to captain Wales is due to the number of retirements in recent weeks.
Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric and Rhys Webb were all experienced players who retired from Test rugby, with the first two having captained Wales before, while Cory Hill is another former skipper who has been forced to pull out to take up a club offer in Japan.
Having a number of players call time on their international career hasn't been ideal for Gatland, but Warburton believes it's not necessarily the big loss it would seem.
"If you're a coaching group assembling in 2019, which I was a part of, you're not really expecting those guys to get to the World Cup anyway," he added. "I don't think it would have been in their plans.
"I know [Wayne] Pivac's not around, but Jonathan Humphreys is still there. I don't think anyone would have expected many of those boys to get there, it would have been a bonus if they did.
"If they were still really fit and motivated to be playing international rugby, then great. I think it's a really brave call from Justin and Alun Wyn. It was going to cause a lot of headlines and controversy but when you get to your 30s and you've got a young family - I think Justin has four kids and Al has three - to be away for a World Cup pre-season isn't like a club pre-season, you're away from home a lot. Even if you're at the Vale, you're away overnight. Then you're away for the World Cup. There's no guarantees you're going to go. Everyone is told that.
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"There's a lot of good young boys coming through. You can still enjoy being a professional rugby player and give your family the time you want to give them by just being a club player. I admire the decision they've made. There's still enough quality.
"We shouldn't be relying on these guys by this point in time. They've been amazing servants for Wales. If they'd gone, it would have been a bonus. It just opens the door for some younger guys. It's a really brave call from both.
"It doesn't take away from anything they've done before. Both of them will be all-time Welsh legends. It's an exciting chapter. Now it's time to look forward to younger players who will grab the bull by the horns and prove their worth at the World Cup."
Sam Warbuton is a Canterbury ambassador. Sam was speaking as Canterbury and The British & Irish Lions extend their partnership for the 2025 tour of Australia, launching the Origins Schools programme, marking the first official collaboration between The British & Irish Lions, Canterbury, and schools’ rugby. You can visit the Canterbury website here.
