Xtra - Sam Warburton exclusive!

Imagine being a Spurs fan AND the captain of the Wales international rugby team this weekend.

First up, it’s one of our biggest games of the season, Saturday’s showdown at Stamford Bridge as we take on Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea in the Premier League at 5.30pm.

That’s followed by a Six Nations showdown at Twickenham on Sunday, as England take on Wales in a match that will go a long way to decide this season’s title.

Enter Sam Warburton - Spurs fan and Welsh RFU captain!

Wales skipper since 2011, Sam is hoping to lead his country to a history-making hat-trick of Six Nations titles.

It’s been a thrilling championship so far and after three of the five rounds of matches, four teams – Ireland, England, Wales, France - are level on four points.

“I can’t wait for the weekend,” said Sam, who captained the British Lions to a famous tour win in Australia last summer.

“Sometimes there are weekends when we win and Tottenham win and when that happens, I can really enjoy myself on my day off on a Monday, I can go and play golf with a smile on my face and wear my Spurs shirt around the house, nice and proud. Hopefully that will be the case this weekend.

“I was at the game against Chelsea at White Hart Lane earlier this season, one of the matches I’ve managed to get down to. Hopefully there will be a few more goals this time and we’ll come out on the winning side.”

Sam revealed that most of the Welsh team supported ‘either United or Liverpool’, but there was Spurs-supporting core in the squad. “Yes, there are Spurs fans, our physio Mark Davies, coach Rob Howley and James Hook are all Spurs fans, so there is quite a good Spurs contingent in the Wales squad. There are a few of us in there so we can fight our corner! Safety in numbers!”

Sam, a try-scorer in Wales’ last fixture, a 27-6 demolishing of France, insists the players aren’t looking too far ahead with Six Nations history in the making.

“The teams we come up against are so good, it would be disrespectful to look too far ahead,” he said. “You have to focus on your opposite number, do your homework, get on the laptops, look at England, look at their back row and after that, you haven’t time for much else.

“It’s very rare when you have three games gone and four teams are on level points.

“It’s all to play for and quite an unusual situation to be in but from a neutral’s perspective and as players, you don’t want to play in dead-rubber games, you want fixtures where there is something to play for. It’s an exciting Six Nations from that perspective.”

Wales clinched last year’s championship with a 30-3 victory over England at the Millennium Stadium and Sam feels England will want to avenge that loss come Sunday.

“I’m sure it will be in the back of their minds, you always remember those fixtures when you have been beaten, that’s what helps motivate you next time around,” he added.

“I think England are a better team than last year, they’ve had three consistent games, were unlucky in the Stade de France and they’ve done something we haven’t managed to do, and that’s beat Ireland. They will be a different animal at Twickenham and we’ll have to be at our best.”