Gatland opts for Dragon to lead Lions

As kids they played together in the same high school soccer and rugby teams in their native Cardiff.

One was amongst the contenders for England’s Footballer of the Year, the other is about to be anointed captain of the Lions.

Gareth Bale and Sam Warburton have come a long way in a short time from the same northern suburb of the Welsh capital — Bale the Arsenal fan who plays for Spurs, Warburton the Spurs fan who concentrated on rugby once he had been turned down by Cardiff City.