There is a more-than-enthusiastic welcome when the front door opens at Lewis Moody’s family home on the outskirts of Bath. Ziggy, the miniature labradoodle, bounds over like a force of nature, just as his owner used to do on a rugby field.

Fortunately, I’d come prepared, arriving with flowers for Lewis’ wife Annie and thanks to the advice of my wife Jayne, top-of-the-range dog biscuits for Ziggy.

‘You were always big on preparation with England,’ Lewis says, welcoming me in with a hug and his trademark, beaming smile. ‘I see nothing has changed! Some of the things you taught me, like “Lombardi Time” are still drilled into my brain. They’re second nature.

Lombardi Time – named after the great NFL coach Vince Lombardi – meant always being 10 minutes early. Lewis was expecting me at 1pm, so there I was knocking bang on 12.50!

I have been in regular contact with Lewis after he revealed last October he had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND), but this is the first time we have met in person since then. Like everyone else, I was beyond shocked and saddened to hear his news.

‘Feel free to ask me anything,’ Lewis tells me as we sit down. ‘But I’ll probably waffle quite a lot!’

I have been in regular contact with Lewis Moody after he revealed last October he had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND), but this is the first time we have met since then

Like everyone else, I was beyond shocked and saddened to hear the news

Moody announcing his diagnosis in October last year alongside his wife Annie. They will celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary in June 

I was so fortunate to work with some incredible players. Lewis was right up there with the best, a phenomenal rugby athlete and all-round great guy.

It is beyond cruel that he has become the latest former player to receive a diagnosis of MND – a life-shortening neurological disease which affects the nerves that control movement and leads to muscles deteriorating to the point that they no longer work. There is, currently, no cure.

I wonder how on earth, as we relax in his conservatory and the April sun streams through the glass doors, Lewis has dealt with such earth-shattering news. And how did he relay it to Annie and his two children, Dylan, 18, and Ethan, 15?

‘Oh f***,’ Lewis responds. It’s the only time in our two-hour visit that his voice cracks with real emotion. I’m amazed by his strength as we talk.

‘It’s a weird one, Clive. I was pretty clear in my mind that something was coming,’ Lewis says. ‘I started getting weakness when I was shoulder pressing in the gym. I saw a physio who pointed me to a specialist. That’s when I was first made aware it could be something more sinister than just a trapped nerve.

‘When I got the news, I was all right about it actually. It was still a shock, but I’d prepared myself for it. It was tough for Annie. You’re told it’s the end of the world. It’s devastating. It’s awful. It’s a terrible illness. Everything was negative. It was the second referral I had in Oxford with a specialist called Martin Turner that was different.

‘Once I came out of the meeting with Dr Turner, I told my mum first. The worst thing that happened was on the way, I accidentally pocket-called Dylan.

‘He could hear part of the conversation, so when we got home he was aware we were going to tell him something. It was the first they were hearing of it, other than knowing I was going to the doctors. Dylan had heard of MND but Ethan had no clue what it was.

Lewis was right up there with the best players I coached, a phenomenal rugby athlete and all-round great guy

He describes the news of his MND diagnosis as a ‘shock’ and says it was ‘tough’ for Annie to deal with

‘I was pretty clear in my mind that something was coming,’ says Moody. ‘I started getting weakness when I was shoulder pressing in the gym’

‘Dylan had a very controlled reaction. There were tears. Ethan was the opposite – just raw emotion. That was the worst bit by far for me – seeing the reaction of the kids and their sadness and emotion. Since then, they’re both doing OK. But it’s tricky.’

Sitting opposite Lewis, as Ziggy meanders between our legs, I’m struck by how at this moment in time, you cannot notice any visible health issues. As he was during a glittering playing career with Leicester Tigers, Bath and England, Lewis still looks physically strong.

Now 47, he is the latest rugby player to have received an MND diagnosis, including some of the great players of the game’s last 30 years – Joost van der Westhuizen, Doddie Weir, Rob Burrow and Ed Slater.

Lewis is known as ‘Mad Dog’ for what was his fearless approach on the field. At times, when I coached him with England, I remember shouting: ‘Lewis, no!’ as he’d hurl himself into yet another tackle with no regard for his own safety.

Is he able to explain what has happened to him post-rugby?

‘Only in terms of the understanding I have from the doctors,’ he says. ‘I asked questions. They were really keen for me to know my career wasn’t the reason I have MND. That was interesting. I then asked a bit more. I was told there isn’t any clear, clinical scientific evidence yet of a link between playing rugby, head injuries and MND.

‘But I was told there is research that suggests a correlation between MND and people who undergo extreme exertion for long periods of time.

‘I loved the game. I was aware of the realities of throwing myself into collisions and smashing my head multiple times against people who weighed 120 kilos. I felt that if the best way for me to use my body was to throw myself into a collision to win the ball back and that was beneficial for the team, then I’d do it. I would still do it.

‘I loved the game. I was aware of the realities of throwing myself into collisions and smashing my head multiple times against people who weighed 120 kilos’

Moody celebrates winning the 2003 World Cup on an open-top bus parade in London

‘I have no regrets at all. I now have MND and people talk about the links between that and rugby. I’ve been told there are still no proven medical connections, but you’d be foolish to think that getting hit in the head repeatedly doesn’t have a side effect. I don’t look back with regret. I just choose to look forward.’

Lewis suffered multiple concussions during his career. At the 2007 World Cup, he played on against Tonga despite being knocked out twice. Advances in the game’s head injury protocols mean that thankfully, that wouldn’t happen now. But it’s a reality they did in a past era. As a player, I also suffered with concussion.

‘There’s no point saying: “We should have done this or that”, because it won’t benefit me now,’ Lewis says. ‘I chose to continue playing in that game. Obviously, I was concussed, so I wasn’t completely clear of thinking. I really recognised the impact of that concussion.

‘The next day we went to Euro Disney and I stupidly went on one of the rides. Oh my God, as soon as we started moving, I felt like my head was going to explode. That was the first genuine recognition I had of the impact of concussion.’

In our England setup, Lewis was always the ultimate team player – selfless to the core. So, it was no surprise to me when he said that in June, he will be joined by a host of the England 2003 World Cup-winning squad on a 500-mile charity cycle which will finish at this season’s PREM Rugby final at Twickenham.

The aim is to support the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation – set up by the late former Scotland and Lions second row Weir – which to date has raised £23.5million to fund research into MND. It might be in tragic circumstances, but it is wonderful to see the players rallying together once more.

Lewis’ two sons will also take part. He wants to provide a sense of hope around MND. Each day in the United Kingdom, six people are told they have the illness.

‘You know what Clive, there’s something so lovely about us all getting back together,’ Lewis says. ‘Without sounding too cheesy, when I was diagnosed it felt like I was being brought in to take over from Doddie, Rob and those guys. I felt like symbolically I was being brought off the bench or handed the baton to fight MND.

Lewis suffered multiple concussions during his career. At the 2007 World Cup, he played on against Tonga despite being knocked out twice

In the England set-up, Lewis was always the ultimate team player – selfless to the core

He will reunite with a group of his former England team-mates for a 500-mile cycle challenge in aid of the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation

‘Time is precious now. We’ve been really, really fortunate to receive an unbelievable amount of support, love and kindness. Our way to pay it back is to focus on having as big an impact as possible, but without diminishing the impact on our personal lives.’

Coaching Martin Johnson, Jonny Wilkinson, Lewis and others with England was the greatest privilege. As a team, we had special times, culminating with the 2003 World Cup win in Australia. I remind Lewis we would not have won that famous final were it not for him, not that he’s forgotten! Coming on as a substitute for Richard Hill in extra time in Sydney, it was Lewis who won the lineout which led to Wilkinson’s iconic, match-winning drop goal. It was a moment we will all remember forever.

‘Playing for England meant everything to me,’ he adds. ‘I remember my dad taking me to Twickenham when I was 14 for an England-Wales game. I was obsessed with rugby from a young age.

‘Afterwards – I still remember this vividly – my dad asked me: “Do you want to come back and watch another game?” I replied: “I do, but not until I’m playing.” That was strange because I was quite a shy kid. Saying that out loud showed me how much rugby meant to me. My focus then immediately switched to how I could achieve that goal and I did. The next time I went to Twickenham, I played against South Africa in a junior match.

‘I’ve been asked many times if I was nervous when I came on in the World Cup final. I couldn’t wait to come on and make a difference! The reason there weren’t any nerves was because we’d rehearsed all eventualities.

‘Being involved in a team when you knew you were going to win was just amazing. Between 2002 and 2003 was the only time in my career I felt absolutely invincible in England jersey. We never recaptured that same level of consistency and belief. It was just a special time. Winning the World Cup was amazing, but the process of winning it was the thing I enjoyed more than anything else.’

Lewis and I laugh when we recall me bringing him into the England team for the 2002 autumn internationals. I wanted more pace in the back row and left out Lawrence Dallaglio on what would have been his 50th cap. I remember having absolutely no idea of Lawrence’s milestone. He was not happy about it! But Lewis was such a good player and I knew we’d need him in 2003, so he had to make my team then.

Our conversation starts to wind down and Ziggy is now horizontal on the floor. 

It’s time to sum up. 

‘I’ve always had a positive outlook on life,’ Lewis says. ‘There is uncertainty in life for all of us. Bizarrely, the news I’ve received has given me certainty. It’s given me a clear focus on what my day-to-day priorities are. There’s no point going from day to day being gloomy or disappointed.

‘I’ve been asked many times if I was nervous when I came on in the World Cup final. I couldn’t wait to come on and make a difference!

Moody represented Leicester Tigers between 1996 and 2010, lifting the Premiership on his farewell appearance at Twickenham

‘I’ve always had a positive outlook on life… there’s no point going from day to day being gloomy or disappointed’

‘It’s not that I don’t feel down from time to time. Of course, that happens – for example when I think about the things I’m going to miss with the kids. But you can’t dwell on it. We can only live in the present. I’m in a position that allows me to really embrace that.

‘We’ve started looking at house modifications. If you look around, there are a s***load of steps and levels, which for wheelchair access isn’t particularly efficient.

‘I’ve banked my voice (on a tape recorder) too in case that goes. That sort of stuff is horrible to talk about, but it’s a reality and it’s better to be prepared for it than not. I feel really lucky in a way because loads of people are diagnosed with diseases and they don’t have a platform to do anything about it. I spent a whole life post-rugby in charity and supporting others, so why wouldn’t I do it now?’

I leave Lewis’ home overwhelmed by his resilience. After receiving such awful news, he has shown the same fearlessness and positive attitude that defined him as a player.

Lewis is brave, disarmingly candid and a thoroughly lovely man with a wonderful family. 

As I was when I was his coach, I am so very proud of him.

For more information on Lewis Moody’s charity bike ride to the PREM final to support the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, go to https://uk.emma-live.com/LewisMoodyCycle