Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
There are always going to be questions asked when there is competition. As long as you can answer those questions, then you are deserving of a place.
I don't think you need to go global rugby to save the Lions, but I think you need to go global rugby to save rugby and not lose things like the Lions.
I'm thankful for the collaboration between the WRU and Ospreys, which will look after my best interests and enables me to play the best rugby possible.
There's always going to be questions asked where there is competition, and as long as you can answer those questions, then you're deserving of a place.
It doesn't matter how young or old you are, and whatever jersey you wear, you realise the derby games prick up the hairs on the backs of people's necks.
A bugbear of mine is bragging rights in regional derbies: it would be a lot more worth to the regional game if we did something special in European rugby.
I don't regret the way I approached things, because otherwise I wouldn't have achieved what I did, but when I look back, I could have enjoyed things more.
I don't really want followers, to be honest; that's what Twitter is for. I want people who can make their own decisions and look after their own departments.
Before I was 'the captain' with the label - because essentially, that's all it is - I was a player, and before that, I was a fan of the game, fan of the team.
As individuals, we don't sometimes let ourselves enjoy things that we possibly should because of ways you want to be perceived, which is a silly thing as well.
Ultimately, we are professional rugby people, and we focus on the rugby. That's the easy bit. We are not politicians, so we don't have to delve too much into that.
Ultimately, rugby players are like surfers. You look for the perfect wave, but you don't always find it. And if you did, you'd probably pack up and try something else.
When I retire, my CV might have a few holes, things I haven't achieved that I would have felt I needed to do, but I won't know if I did need to do them until I retire.
Welsh rugby has done its dirty washing in public. It's nothing new. We're a tribal bunch. If warring parties want to sway public opinion, they do it in the public arena.
There are real people on the pitch. We're not commodities. Well, maybe we are to some degree, but it's the team which creates business. Some people don't appreciate that.
I did GCSE's and A-levels. I did my finals after the Lions tour in 2009 to get my law degree. So I've always had an eye on life beyond playing, irrelevant of the period in my career.
Some losses are harder to take than others. You can lose and play well. It is when you lose and don't do the things you worked on and don't do what you say you would that is difficult.
You do not have time in international rugby to stop and think, 'This is tough.' It's more a case of, 'Let's crack on.' Where's your next job? Fill a hole for someone who has just made a tackle?
Ultimately I'm the captain, but if someone can't get themselves in the right state to play, it's not my job. If they don't want to come into work determined to be the best they can be, they're in the wrong job.
I think a global season, moving it a bit towards summer, can only be a good thing from a playing and commercial point of view, but it would take a massive shift, and I do not know if it would happen in my career.
I would like to think I am well aware of what the Lions are about and what they represent, but out of respect for your body and the players who are putting up their hands to be selected, you keep it at arm's length.
If we have given everything we can, you are not settling for mediocrity because the better team won. Sometimes you have to have that mindset to be able to improve rather than keep telling yourself you should have won.
It is very easy to make athletes, and it is very difficult to make rugby players with that rugby instinct. I would like to think I have got a bit of rugby instinct and have become more of a rugby athlete along the way.
What you put in, you usually get out. If you are not good enough on the day, fine, but if you put in everything you have, you usually get a decent result. When you lose, it motivates you to go again, not dwell on the past.
I find it hard to believe that anyone could be playing regularly and saying they do not have a niggle. It is the nature of the beast, what you get when you play a lot of rugby: you have to get another niggle to forget about the one you already have.
I'd love to feature for the Barbarians. I'd love to win a Champions Cup, and I'd love to get to another World Cup and make a fist of it: get to a World Cup final at least and see what could have been, particularly after 2011 when Wales reached the semi-finals.
Apparently, I'm the angriest man. I don't know. It's just an interpretation. If it was someone else, they might be called focused or competitive. I'm not that angry or grumpy, but if you want to say I'm angry because I'm focused or competitive, then that's okay.
I was watching the Five Nations as a kid, I'm very fortunate to have been able to pull the red jersey on a few times, and now I'm able to assist the team, assist the young players coming through, and help the guys who do have the ambition to play more for Wales.
To a point, family does that and a couple of life experiences both positive and negative that have definitely altered my perception on rugby. Whereas my first 28-29 years, rugby was the entire focus, which was not that healthy, now you realise what is really important.
If you had a global calendar, then you would have less games; you create more intrigue, create supply and demand with regards to the sport, and that will heighten the intrigue with regards to the Lions. Create more mystique not only at international level but at club level as well.
Players want to play a lot of rugby. We're walking contradictions at times in that we want to play a lot of rugby, but we don't want to play too much rugby, and we want to be available for all the big games, yet there are times when you have to sacrifice that because of game limits.