Sam Warburton is one of the favourites to captain the Lions on their tour to Australia next year © Getty Images

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Players/Officials: Sam Warburton

Teams: Wales

Wales captain Sam Warburton has said he is not presuming to keep the Welsh captaincy despite leading Warren Gatland's team to a Six Nation Grand Slam earlier this year.

The Cardiff Blues flanker is also being tipped to skipper the Lions on the tour to Australia in 2013, but with Tests against Argentina. Samoa, New Zealand and Australia on the horizon in November and December, he is not taking the captaincy for granted.

"You don't know until each campaign comes around, nothing is set in stone nowadays," Warburton said. "The competition around the Wales squad at the moment is immense and you have to make sure you are on top of your game. I am on my toes and trying to play the best I can and make sure I stay injury free. You never know when that [losing the captaincy] could happen, but if it did happen I am sure it would be for the right reasons."

One player who definitely won't be taking part in the upcoming internationals is Warburton's fellow flanker Dan Lydiate. The Six Nations player of the year will miss the four Tests after injuring an ankle that is likely to rule him out until the latter part of the 2013 Six Nations. However, his absence does offer the chance for someone else to break into the Wales squad.

"It is a massive blow for Wales because Dan was Six Nations player of the year and arguably our best player of the last 12 months and he is such a consistent performer - he is always there. If you had to pick the top three players in every game, he will always be in the top three," Warburton said. "There are a lot of back rows in the squad who could potentially do well; we've got cover there. Whoever comes in will do a good job."