Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Rugby takes its toll.
I'm an eternal optimist.
I've never bought a sports car.
I didn't know Ian Smith myself!
My missus knows to leave me alone.
I still get a great buzz from rugby.
There's ego in all of us rugby players.
I was a football fan before I became a rugby fan.
I don't really want to be the centre of attention.
You can't rely on your defence to win a World Cup.
I would say I thrive in a competitive environment.
It feels great to be a two-time Six Nations winner.
When you are captain, you are never speaking for yourself.
You cannot say things one week and then behave differently.
I enjoy training so much, sometimes I don't want it to stop.
The victory is always sweeter... winning things with friends.
The Polynesian guys are pretty strong without going to the gym.
A physical therapist does some unbelievable stretching with me.
That's what happens in the world. You get offered superior contracts.
Growing up, I supported Manchester United, and my hero was Mark Hughes.
I just want to concentrate on my rugby and enjoy it and live in the moment.
If you can beat New Zealand, then you're probably going to win the World Cup.
As you get older, the defeats become more painful. They definitely hurt more.
If you start thinking about retirement in six months' time, you're already there.
I think my form dipped after the Six Nations in 2007, from the World Cup onwards.
One thing I learnt early on my career is that personal gratification takes second place.
I've been a professional rugby player all my life; I don't really know anything different.
Dressing rooms can be vicious places, in the best possible way, from a slagging point of view.
You've to celebrate the good days because there are brutal days that make the good ones sweet.
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.
Before there was any chance to go to England, I changed schools, and it was rugby from there on in.
My nutritional knowledge is good enough to figure out what's good, what's bad, and where my leeway is.
I get burnt in the sun, so there's no point me getting pecs for when I take my shirt off in the summer.
I had massive admiration for lots of players. Richard Hill would be up there, along with Martin Johnson.
It's rare enough as an older generation player that you're 100% fit - there's always something niggling.
I have interests outside of rugby and have been cultivating them for when I do decide to hang up the boots.
I have ambitions to set records which will be hard to chase down, like getting more than 100 caps for Ireland.
If you stick around long enough and you do enough of the right things, you get seen in a largely positive light.
I was exposed to the gym at about 28. I never had a huge love or appetite for it - it was just a means to an end.
The big upside to being captain is it's a huge honour, but the downside is that there is definitely extra pressure.
The great thing about playing team sport is you win and lose together, and the pain is never as bad when you share it.
I'm fairly adventurous with my eating. I've tried kangaroo, and Moreton Bay bugs, which are a kind of lobster, are so good.
In your mid-20s, you think you'll go on for eternity. Then a point comes where you realise that's not going to be the case.
You never sit on your laurels. It is always a case of trying to work on your deficiencies as much as working on your strengths.
I think training and being dedicated is very important, but one aspect that I always live by is that I enjoy myself in what I do!
As the summer moves on, there are Saturday nights when I come home and find friends I haven't even been out with sitting up in the hot tub.
I had come across a few sports psychologists, and I had no time for nearly all of them. I just don't think they work in a team environment.
You have perspective when little people come into your life. You take the best things you have and let them overshadow your disappointment.
When you talk to family and friends, they can't tell you anything from an impartial point of view because they have a vested interest in you.
Timmy Horan was a childhood hero. He was a great distributor, elusive, good stepper, very physical, defensively very sound. What a rounded player.