Lewis Moody

Nickname: Mad Moodos
Appearances: 88 + 36 (correct on 15/08/2002)
Position: Flanker
Weight: 16st 6lbs (104Kg)
Height: 6' 4" (1.93m)
Date of Birth: 12/06/1978
Previous Clubs: Oakham, Bracknell
Honours: England 10, England Schools, England U18s, England Colts and England U21

Lewis Moody was born in Bracknell in 1978, it was there that he began to play rugby as a child. His dad's work eventually took the family to Leicestershire, where Lewis went to Oakham school, a school well-known for it's rugby prowess. As well as playing rugby for his school, Lewis was an all-round athlete and was crowned county javelin champion when he was 16 he also played cricket and swam, but rugby was always his first love.

Lewis' first Tigers training session saw him compete against Leon Lloyd for a place as a centre. It was his school coach at Oakham, a certain Ian 'Dosser' Smith that advised him to move to the back-row and he hasn't looked back since. Moodos made his youth team debut way back in 1995, he was quickly taken up to the first XV the following year with a dream start in which he scored two tries.

Being a back-row player at Leicester has meant Lewis has always faced stiff competition for a first team place. For a couple of years the back-row threesome of Will Johnson, Paul Gustard and Lewis seemed to take turns in being injured and being first choice blindside, with Neil Back hogging the openside and Cozza at No.8. The turning point of Lewis' career occurred in 2001.

Having played for England A once or twice in the Six Nations A competition he was dropped, but fellow Tiger Will Johnson played a major part in the tournament. Johnno Junior, at this point, was perhaps experiencing the form of his life, having secured the Tigers blindside position after Gussie got injured against Quins in the cup defeat earlier that year. Will started the European Cup final, but got sent off by his big brother after injuring himself fairly early on, although Lewis was on the bench for that magnificent occasion Paul Gustard got to replace him, and Moodos went unused.

The rumours about Josh Kronfeld joining Leicester had been rife for most of the season, at this point it seemed certain that if Josh came at least one of our cherished back-row would leave and with Lewis seemingly out in the cold he could well have been favourite. However, god obviously had his stripy shirt on when he picked the England team to tour North America because fairly surprisingly, to me at least, Lewis was chosen even though he had hardly played that season. It seems the injury to Will Johnson could well have been the catalyst to Lewis' big breakthrough into both international rugby and more importantly ;) Tigers first XV.

Lewis made all the headlines during the NA tour: "Star is born as England set record"(Telegraph 17/06/2001); "Understudy Moody takes England Lead" (Telegraph 31/05/2001). Brendon Gallagher stated:

"The biggest plus has undoubtedly been the superb form of Lewis Moody at openside flanker, arguably the man of the match in all three Tests".

By now the signing of Josh Kronfeld had been announced, and with Lewis only starting nine games for Tigers the previous season without such high profile competition talk of a move began. Lewis made his concerns known:

"It has been great to actually play some rugby at last. At least you could say I was fresh. I had no real expectation of even making the tour so when I did I was determined to seize my chance. When I get back there will be a lot of talking. I feel like I was going through the motions last season. I don't really want to leave Leicester but, as Ellery Hanley told us out here, when you get your England shirt you don't let anybody take it away, and that has stayed in my mind."

Clive Woodward at first seemed keen for Lewis to move on, but he then made a complete turnaround (that's not like him) and said that Lewis was at the best club in the country and should stay to learn from Deano, Wellsy, Backy and Josh. On his return Lewis and his dad had a talk to Deano, and thankfully the big man's powers of persuasion led to loopy blonde one staying at Welford Road, even though Lewis admits he was very close to signing for Quins or Sale.

The 2001-2002 season was a great one for Lewis. The confidence boost from the North America tour was clear for all to see, he plays like a man possessed, hence the nickname. He started the premiership season where he left off on the England tour. For me, the Gloucester away game showed that Lewis not only is a very good player but also has that special something that inspires the rest of the team. Tigers fielded a fairly young side with some of the Lions on the bench (after the last minute defeat against Newcastle who could blame them).

Gloucester started well and it looked as if Tigers were heading towards another loss, however Lewis making one of his trademark charging runs at the restart collected Goode's kick and scored, just like that. This was the turning point of the game, Lewis' try and his enjoyment in scoring it gave the whole team a boost and even before the big boys came on Leicester began to turn the tide. Even Deano had to admit "He was outstanding in the second half".

Another classic moment occurred near the beginning of the season, when Lewis outpaced Woodward's former favourite speedster Iain Balshaw to score after the getting the ball 40 metres out. It wasn't long before Woody came calling for our Lewis and he featured in the Autumn Internationals, scoring twice against Romania. Lewis was now firmly established in both the Leicester and the England squads, although Josh had not had the best start to his Tigers career in terms of injuries even when fit Lewis was keeping him out of the starting line-up playing on the blindside. Backy still seemingly super-glued to the highly coveted No 7 shirt Lewis is happy to play blindside for club and country although he makes no secret of his preference for the openside.

Lewis went on to feature in the Six Nations, he started the game against Wales at Twickenham. Picked in preference to Joe Worsley in an attempt to speed up the back row Moody certainly impressed a lot of people. Bill Beaumont stated "He was a big plus for England. He was quick in the tackle and worked all over the pitch".

His outstanding form throughout the year was rewarded with numerous nominations for player and young player of the year, winning the Zurich Young Player of the Season award as well as Tigers players' player of the year award, although he missed out on the Members award to a certain Mr Kay. He capped off his season with another successful England tour. He is now hot on the heels of Neil Back, with many fans and journalists claiming he deserves a start on the openside in the autumn internationals. Indeed his statistics would back this up, he currently (13/08/2002) features in the Zurich World Team XV at No. 7 (see www.zurichrugby.co.uk).

Having achieved the double with Tigers as well as earning his England caps this year it will be interesting to see how far he will progress in the coming season. Josh is sure to have a better season than last and Backy seems to be an ever present in the seven shirt for Leicester. Will Lewis finally wrench it off him? Who knows but he'll give it bliming good try.

Ra's Lewis Limerick:
Our "basketcase blonde" Openside
Has no thought of protecting his hide
He will oft put his head
Where angels won't tread
But he never once wanders offside

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