From The Vaults

Lewis Moody was born in 1978 and educated at Oakham School where he played centre and full back. After school he joined Leicester Tigers in August 1996 and studied Business Administration at De Montfort University. The youngest player to play for the Tigers in a League match, he won a reputation over a long career as a ferocious marauding flanker.

After establishing himself as a first choice for Leicester in a highly competitive back row, he made his debut for England on the North American tour of 2001 and scored his first international try against the USA in San Francisco. Over a career spanning eleven years, he became the most capped wing forward in English rugby history winning 71 caps and scoring nine tries.

He started in three matches of England's historic 2003 World Cup campaign and was a replacement in the other four matches, notably winning a crucial line-out ball in the lead up to Jonny Wilkinson's drop goal in extra time of the Final. A first-choice wing forward for England from the autumn of 2004, he toured New Zealand with the British and Irish Lions in 2005 playing two tests and scoring a try in the third test. He also played for the Lions against Argentina in Cardiff in the pre-tour test match.

In the 2007 World Cup, he played in all seven matches for England, starting in the final four matches including the defeat in the Final in Paris against South Africa. He took over the England captaincy at the end of the 2010 International Championship and captained England in his final eleven internationals ending with the defeat to France in Auckland in the quarter-finals of the 2011 World Cup.

An outstanding contributor to the successes of Leicester Tigers rugby for many years, he played in the back row alongside Neil Back and Martin Corry in Leicester's Heineken Cup triumph against Munster in Cardiff in 2002 and additionally played in four Premiership Finals. He moved to Bath in the autumn of 2010 but increasing injuries disrupted his career leading to his retirement from the game in 2012.

Since his retirement he has become a patron of numerous charities and he set up the Lewis Moody Foundation in 2014 with his wife to fund research in improving the diagnosis and treatment of brain tumours. He is the first Sporting Heritage Ambassador chosen by the World Rugby Museum.

About the Author - A professional musician and arts administrator, Richard Steele has been on the committee of the World Rugby Museum at Twickenham since 2005 and is the co-author of the RFU's 150th anniversary book 'England Rugby 150 Years'.