LEWIS MOODY SPEAKS TO THE TELEGRAPH AT THURSDAY THERAPY

At Generate's recent Rugby-themed Thursday Therapy, Lewis Moody sat on the expert panel and gave his thoughts on what it means to be a player at a World Cup, as well as sharing a few other interesting anecdotes and stories.

Afterwards he spoke to the Telegraph's Gavin Mairs about England's new kit, which has attracted some controversy with the Victoria Cross printed on the shirt.

Moody defended the use of military symbolism in rugby after revealing he used his great grandfather's WW1 medal to motivate him before matches during the 2011 World Cup

“When I came to the end of my career I found it harder to get up to the same emotional level and I had to find new ways of getting myself focused”.

“I was given a technique by a sports psychologist that involved finding something that was of immense value to you in an emotional sense.

"I have always had a fascination with the First World War. Whenever we toured any country with rugby I always went to the towns and villages that we were in and found the local war memorial and had a couple of quiet moments to myself. So the natural thing for me was to take my great granddad’s medal.

“I found that very inspirational. How they dealt with the stress and the adversity [of being at the Western Front] was just baffling to me so it was just my way of getting up for games.”

Moody, who won 71 caps for England, revealed he would spend around two minutes in one of the changing room toilets half an hour before kick-off clasping the medal firmly.

While he had first used it to fire him up for club games, he continued the ritual before England Test matches as it became part of his pre-match routine.

“The first time I tried it it was brilliant.

"It got me back to the emotional intensity that I needed before a match.”

To read the full article visit: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/england/111103...