The 22-year-old made his debut for Wales in 2009 as a replacement against the USA and has now gone onto make the number seven jersey his own, with a string of stand-out performances in this year’s RBS 6 Nations Championship.
In the glorious Rome sunshine on Saturday, Warburton was on hand to touch down under the posts for a stunning team try.
“Lee Byrne just made a break and I saw Hooky going one way and I just tried to run an inside line off him,” he said.
“The full-back committed himself to James and it made it an easy run in for me.
“It’s a very proud moment for me and I was thrilled when I scored.
“I am not sure how big the grin on my face was on the TV.
“I just kept telling myself to put the ball down and not to drop it. It’s a memory which will stay with me forever. It was one of the best moments of my career.”
Wales’ victory made it two successive wins on the road and Warburton still believes they are in the mix for the title at the end of the competition but need to keep the pressure on the other sides with victory over Ireland at the Millennium Stadium, a week on Saturday.
“This isn’t the autumn, it’s all about results when it comes to the Six Nations.
“We have won both our away games, which I think has surprised some people, and we can go into the Ireland game at home with some real confidence.
“That is a home game we must win now, and if we do it’s then all to play for against France.”
