James Haskell

“There is nowhere to hide as an international back-row forward.”

“No self-respecting gym goer skips leg day.”

“In rugby I think it is good to have a bit of a persona, a bit of a character because we are one of the last things that isn't necessarily controlled.”

“To stay at the elite end of professional sport you need to show an awful lot of dedication.”

“Although the TV commercials will try and have you believe otherwise, there is nothing good about breakfast cereal. No matter how 'low fat' or 'high in fibre' the box tells you it is, ditching the high sugar cereals is the first step you need to take towards a better breakfast.”

“I can't have cinema popcorn because it's all full of sugar, unfortunately. Well, I do have it and I don't have it. I love movie night and there's lots of healthy brands of popcorn nowadays, so it's good as a snack.”

“I've always felt Twickenham has a special aura.”

“My first memory is being taken for Indian food at the Cookham Tandoori on the High Street - I remember the poppadoms, the onions, the chicken tikka.”

“I like my boxing and jiu jitsu and that kind of stuff and one thing I always enjoyed from an early age was shooting. My godfather got me into it. It started with airguns and shotguns and that kind of stuff.”

“When I started my professional rugby career, in 2002, there was one guy filming training if you were lucky.”

“Actions always speak louder than pre-match words.”

“The first step to optimising testosterone is eating right. That means cutting out the processed junk food and focusing on high quality proteins, carbs, fats, and an abundance of fruits and vegetables. Don't fall into the 'low fat' eating trap, as this will seriously inhibit your testosterone production.”

“The bottom line is that players have to be responsible for getting themselves in the right frame of mind.”

“As soon as you're put on a pedestal, you're easily knocked off it.”

“People make very many comments in life when they don't have the background or the knowledge.”

“Do I respect my competition? Yeah. Do I always think that I could do a better job? Of course.”

“I was diagnosed with ADD when I was 14. Weirdly enough, I then learnt, through doing different things, to concentrate.”

“All players want nice things to be said and written about them and you have to take the reverse in equal measure.”

“It is difficult for people across the world to be comfortable with their sexuality. We need more education and awareness.”

“I've lost count of the times I've been asked what I do for a living. When I say rugby people say: 'Yes, but what's your other job?'”