The Mad Dog keeps smiling - Lewis Moody on retirement and his "ridiculous" career

Lewis Moody talks to me about his career, retirement and that creaking trophy cabinet

In his autobiography published after last year’s World Cup, Lewis Moody paid tribute to the cast of medics who had patched him up during his 16-year career.
And one day, the tale of his injuries, operations and comebacks will doubtless form a textbook for first-year medical students.

Ultimately, though, the years of attrition took their toll, resulting in his enforced retirement this week.

But, typically, Moody (pictured) was still smiling and looking to the future when I caught up with him on Tuesday. It was such a demeanour that saw him through many long injury lay-offs, injuries caused more often that not by the way he put himself about on the pitch.

Full-on, devil-may-care, kamikaze, scant regard for his own safety, body on the line... There are many ways in which Lewis Moody’s style of play have been described. Suffice it to say that the first person who nicknamed him Mad Dog wasn’t barking up the wrong tree.

Like a veteran of many a campaign in far-flung war zones, it takes more than one breath to get through Moody’s roll of honours.

The most capped England flanker, 71 caps for his country, seven Premiership titles, three for the British and Irish Lions, two Heineken Cup winner’s medals, one Anglo-Welsh Cup winner’s medal, two Six Nations Championship winner’s medals and one World Cup winners medal. It is some haul, and one that enables Moody to be at peace with his decision to hang up his boots.

“There’s no self-pity at all,” he says of the shoulder injury that has caused his retirement. “That’s not my style.

“I’ve had a phenomenal career - far greater than anyone could have imagined, certainly me. Some players don’t win a single trophy in their career, I think I’ve won 14 or something ridiculous.”

Many of Moody’s achievements were accomplished despite him being diagnosed with colitis in 2004-05. Over-exposure to anti-inflammatories, antibiotics and painkillers contributed to the onset of the condition, and a few seasons ago Moody even stopped taking protein shakes - ubiquitous in every professional club - to help his intestinal problems.

Moody made his international debut in 2001 and went on to feature in all seven of England’s games in their triumphant 2003 World Cup campaign.

He represented the Lions in 2005, helped England reach the 2007 World Cup and then captained his country into last year’s tournament.

Ultimately it proved a disappointing experience as England bowed out in the quarter-finals after a campaign dogged by controversy. Moody blamed himself for some of it.

He announced his retirement from the international game after the World Cup and was looking forward to channelling all his energies into Bath Rugby. Then, in his first Premiership game after returning from New Zealand, Moody took to the field at Sixways in what was to be his last game. A shoulder injury ended his game early, and it was to prove to be the final curtain on his career.

“It was gutting because when I retired from international rugby, all I wanted to do was focus my time on playing for Bath and playing out the two years left on my contract and then maybe having another year with the club,” explains Moody.

“I came back to training and was getting through everything great and then I suddenly couldn’t get through anything.

“You realise in your own head that something’s fundamentally not right and I realised that the injury I’d picked up against Worcester wasn’t something I was going to be able to come back from.

“It was an easy decision in that the body just wouldn’t recover.

“Of course I took professional advice. I wasn’t prepared to give up on my career until I’d explored every avenue.”

On Sunday, Moody decided he had played his final game.

“Over the weekend I had to bite the bullet and be realistic. I had to admit that I’d tried to come back but that unfortunately it wasn’t going to happen.”

And what of the future?

“There are many avenues for me to look at. Coaching is one of them, media stuff, team-building, after-dinner speaking and getting involved with the charities and sponsors that you can never give enough time to when you are playing due to training and games.

“There are so many options open to you it’s almost daunting thinking that you’ve got to go down one of them.

“Would I be a good coach? Who knows, I’d need to do some to find out. Would I be a good presenter? Who knows, I’d need to do some first. There are some interesting months ahead.”