Moody facing up to biggest battle

RUGBY UNION

- By DUNCAN BECH

Lewis Moody in his England days and (inset below) revealing his MND diagnosis with wife Annie in an interview with the BBC

GEORDAN Murphy is backing his friend and former Leicester teammate Lewis Moody to confront motor neurone disease with the same “fearless” approach that characterised his playing career.

Murphy, along with fellow Tigers great Leon Lloyd, has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to support the former England captain, who learned two weeks ago that he has the incurable muscle wasting disease.

“As a player Lewis was absolutely fearless,” former Ireland and Lions fullback Murphy told the PA news agency.

“He put 100 per cent into everything, he didn’t believe in giving anything less. That's the way he trained and the way he played.

“MND is an horrific disease and there’s no cure, which is heartbreaking. But I know Lewis will take this on with the same approach he played the game.