Moody Blues

Sad but unsurprising news today that Lewis Moody has finally had to acknowledge what his body’s been trying to tell him for years and has retired from the game.

It was always difficult to know what exactly to make of Moody. When he played at blindside he looked like a 7 and when he played at openside he looked like a 6 – but his wholehearted commitment was never in doubt and let us not forget how important he was to England's World Cup squad in 2003.

One thing Moody could never be accused of was of ever giving less than 100% for England, Leicester or, latterly, Bath and his utter disregard for his own safety in the way he played resulted in the litany of injuries which, ultimately, hastened his retirement.

My favourite comment about Moody comes from Martin Corry who, when discussing Moody being treated for a bang on the head against Tonga in 2007 after a typically kamikaze charge-down attempt, said:

"I didn't envy the doctor who went to tend to him - even when Lewis is at his sharpest it's difficult to tell if he's concussed or not."