World Cup winner? One of England's highest ever try scorers? That's what it says on my CV. But it wasn't always like that. I started life as a gangly fly half, in the days when my mum still had the nerve to watch games. Her top memory of my entire career? My scoring a hat trick in the final of Malsis School under 11s. The World Cup didn't come close because she couldn't watch it! Walked round the stadium with Jonny Wilkinson's dad, too nervous to sit through any of it. I spent most of my childhood somewhere near a sports ball of some sort or other. I loved the rough stuff, but my early nickname of twig man should tell you all about my ability to mix it up. By the time I was 17 my body was rebelling, and when I did try to smash someone my shoulders popped out or broke. I will never be able to play snooker properly again and I am relieved to dive into a pool and discover my shoulders are still attached. There was no way I was going to muscle my way to the try line. So I got to thinking...

In a game of brawn I had to engage the brain - one of my favourite phrases is that the strong take from the weak but the smart take from the strong. I spent hours running back moves in my head trying to find weak links. I poured over defensive patterns. I was an economist at university, so I like logic and patterns, and I scoured team sheets looking for an edge. I tried to work out how people kicked and passed, and then changed my game plan to put them off their stride. With professionalism I could concentrate on getting the physical side of the game right; though with a maximum of 107kg on a bench press some people might say I never mastered any sort of muscle work. But slowly, hours in the gym began to pay off. The shoulders stayed together, I got picked for England and was lucky to be surrounded by a unique set of players, coaches and management. We developed together and each one of us brought something special. Me? I like to think I brought some vision, passing, organisation and the guts to have a go. And come the World Cup the puny lad not known for his tackling was captain of defence. My mantra was basic - do the simple stuff, but think about it. Can we shift quick, look the other way, attack their inside? Breaking things down to the basics, the one percenters that make the difference between winning and losing. That's how England went from number eight in the world to number one in the world, and I loved every minute of it.

Trust, believe and commit. It was always at the heart of what I tried to achieve and for me it is the mark of a great career, no matter who you are or where you play. I stand by that view today, whether I am writing for the Telegraph, about to go on TV for Sky or stand up and give an after dinner speech. Put your heart and soul in to it, and the rest will follow.