Britain has bred many great explorers, but they seem to get so little coverage compared to soccer and rugby players.

Of all the creatures in the world that really frighten me - the hyena in Africa, the great white shark - leopard seals are near the top of the list. They're killers. If my team spots one, they'll pull me out of the water.

There's ego in all of us rugby players.

In the cold, all the blood rushes to your core to protect your heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, and brain. When you leave the water, the blood rushes back to your arms and legs, absorbs that freezing cold, and brings it back to the heart.

Climate change is the Everest of all problems, the thorniest challenge facing humankind.

Not to be too grandiose about it, but in a way I see myself like Sir Edmund Hillary. The water was my Everest.