WHEN Sam Warburton returns to the Wales changing room at the Stade de France approaching 8pm local time on Saturday he may consider becoming a history-maker but not before then.

The openside flanker will go level with Ryan Jones when he captains his country for the 33rd time in Paris this weekend.

It is a terrific achievement for the 26-year-old, who was handed the reins by Warren Gatland in 2011, but it isn’t one that is on his mind.

While his coach was happy to pay tribute – “Wales is the ultimate fishbowl of world rugby and he has matured and grown into the role” – Warburton was playing it down.

“It has sort of crept up on me quite quickly,” said the Cardiff Blues back rower. “It was never a motivation, I was always focussed as a young player to be able to play for Wales.

“That has always been the important thing for me and it is nice to be able to achieve that. My real focus now is trying to make sure we win.”

That is the only option for Wales if they are to still be thinking about a title challenge come Saturday night.

Their opening weekend loss to England has left them with no margin for error but Warburton, a try scorer against France in Cardiff last year, thrives on such a feeling.

“I love playing under pressure,” he said. “I’d much rather have a game like this against France. It’s a must-win game compared to facing a tier three or four nation at home, when you’re expected to win by 50 points.

“It’s much more exciting – there’s a lot more tension on the training ground but it’s a good energy. “It’s a really enjoyable Test week to be involved in, to have a top team like France coming up at the weekend. It’s a massive challenge.”

Warburton will be at the coalface against a formidable French pack but the captain says Wales must be prepared for a manner of scenarios against a side that have failed to fire so far this tournament.

“I don’t think France have played much rugby but I think it could change against us. It wouldn’t surprise me if they went wide and used (large centre) Mathieu Bastareaud as a decoy,” said Warburton.

“We have to be prepared for a few different game plans. There’s going to be stages in the game, I think, where they will go from deep and counter-attack and there will be times where they will tighten it right up with driving lineouts.

“That’s why it’s quite difficult to play against France – you are never quite sure what’s going to happen.”