Even Sam Warburton admits he thought his Six Nations days were over.

After making 34 appearances in eight tournaments between 2010 and 2017 - which included two titles and a Grand Slam - even the man himself thought his association with Europe's elite competition was over.

But in just over three weeks, Warburton returns for the 2020 tournament as a coach after being appointed by Wayne Pivac as a breakdown technical advisor.

A move which caught the man himself by surprise.

"I never thought I would be involved in the national set-up again," said Warburton.

"I can't wait. As a player it's full of pressure, bit of nerves and anxiety.

"As a coach it is just exciting. Having two years out of it I feel more privileged to be back involved.

"I never had aspirations to coach when I was playing but I guess when you are in a particular place and time. things worked for a reason."

Warburton's step into coaching resulted from a conversation with Pivac about what he felt was a neglected area. The result was his appointment to work alongside defence coach Byron Hayward.

"The reason I never thought I was going to be a coach was because there was no such thing as breakdown coaches before this one," admitted Warburton.

"There was never a role I thought would suit me but now this one has come up it is a nice fit. I was chatting to Wayne about his ideas and things I thought we could add.

"I was not pitching it for myself but I mentioned in rugby we focus a lot on scrums and line-outs, attack and defence.

"You might have 10 or 12 scrums and line-outs a game, but you have about 200 breakdowns and perhaps we don't upskill the players enough in that area.

"It has been overlooked and more attention could be focused on that. The next thing I know is a couple of conversations later, Wayne asked me if I wanted to do it.

"I was just flattered he put his faith in me to do such a big role."

Sam Warburton (left) is part of Wayne Pivac's Wales backroom team alongside defence coach Byron Hayward (right)

So what type of coach can we expect Warburton to be?

"My role is purely to help and try and get the players to improve," said Warburton.

"I was the same as a player and a captain, I would never want to model myself on any particular player. I have always thought you have to be true to yourself.

"The moment you try and be someone you are not, people will see straight through it. I will just be me and the people who know me will know what that is. I will be in the campaigns as committed as if I was a player."

Warburton was involved with Wales during the build-up to the 43-33 uncapped win over a Warren Gatland-coached Barbarians in November 2019 which was Pivac's first game in charge.

Warburton will be a man forever associated with Gatland. The coach made the flanker his Wales captain at 22 and chose Warburton to lead the British and Irish Lions on tours to Australia in 2013 and New Zealand four years later.

So he is well placed to assess the two regimes as he predicts evolution not revolution.

"There is not the huge amount of change people might expect because when things have worked so well, it would be silly to knock it all down and rebuild it," said Warburton.

"There are a lot of fundamental things and foundations that have been put in place which is great and it is how we can add value in certain areas.

"The game plan evolved under Warren from being quite physical in the early days to slowly being more expansive.

"From what I have seen with Wayne in that Barbarians week and his time at Scarlets, I think that will develop again under him with Wales."

Warburton insists he will be happy to wear a tracksuit after admitting he is happy with life since his playing retirement in July 2018 aged 29.

Sam Warburton played 74 Tests for Wales and five internationals for the British and Irish Lions

"The one thing I miss most about being in that elite environment is you have 50 or 60 people all aligned in the same direction to achieve the same goal," said Warburton.

"That is special.

"When I went back into the Barbarians week, my twin brother Ben, who is a physio asked me if I had missed playing at all.

"I missed the Welsh team and the environment massively but I don't miss playing.

"My time has gone and I am lucky to have the career I have had. I am privileged to have done it 74 times and I know there are people who would love to have done it just once.

"I will now take great satisfaction in playing a small part in trying to help people follow in the footsteps of the likes of Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric and Jonathan Davies. That is my role now."