Moody now faces same challenge as other legends

Martin Johnson, summed it up when Moody retired in 2012 having won 71 caps for England. “When I look back at playing with Lewis it always brings a smile to my face - it was never dull. He was one of the most committed guys I ever played with and had a complete disregard for his own physical wellbeing.”

- 

But even those of us who followed his entire playing career and, at one stage, collaborated with him on a fly-in-the-ruck column for the Guardian barely knew the half of it. Among other things he was diagnosed with the inflammatory bowel disease ulcerative colitis in 2005, preferring to keep his condition secret while continuing to play top-level rugby.

His steadily growing list of other rugby-related injuries would also have tested anyone's resolve. Even as a baby there were hairy moments, not least when a motorcyclist with a concrete slab in a sidecar smashed into his mum's Beetle with him in the back in a baby seat. The vehicle was a write off and his mother suffered whiplash but Lewis was fine.