Dream Team: Rory Jenkins – former Quins, Wasps & England flanker

1. Jason Leonard – You can’t beat a rock like him on and off the pitch. He is a larger-than-life character and he obviously loves a pint here and there.
2. Keith Wood – Couldn’t get a better bloke on the pitch. Towards the end of his career he became obsessed with fitness and speed – when I first met him he was a huge guy.
3. Craig Dowd – I played with him at Wasps and he was an All Blacks legend. A top tighthead who never took a backwards step.
4. Simon Shaw – He was mainly an opponent of mine during his Wasps days and I have huge respect for him. He was probably unlucky not to get more caps than he did.
5. Wade Dooley – A bit more of the old school. Wade was a real hard man with an immense character – very strong and powerful and didn’t take any nonsense.
6. Lawrence Dallaglio – He was a main competitor of mine as we were playing for the same England shirt. We were best of enemies, but we have since become decent friends. I really respected the way he played.
7. Laurent Cabannes – We played together at Quins and he was an inspirational character. They called him the ‘Miracle’ after doctors said he might never run again after a nasty car accident early in his career.
8. Zinzan Brooke – Another All Black legend. I remember one particular tackle on Newcastle‘s new signing Marius Hurter. He was running at me and I thought ‘this is going to hurt’ but Zinzan came from the blindside and knocked him out flat.
9. Nick Duncombe – He passed away very sadly when he was playing well at Quins. He had huge respect from everybody and is sorely missed.
10. Gavin Henson – I played with him at Swansea. He was 19 and I had never seen a more talented player – he was incredibly strong and had great hands.
11. Dan Luger – He was super fast – his mum was a Croatian sprinter – and he was incredible to play alongside.
12. John Schuster – He was an All Black, but played rugby league for the majority of his career. He was in his early 40s when we picked him up but he was an amazing kicker and his success rate was incredible.
13. Philippe Sella – Got to know him over a few glasses of wine when he came over to Saracens. As a 100-cap centre he had all the talent and that French ‘je ne sais quoi’.
14. Jonah Lomu – I’m not sure you would call it a tackle – but I did slow him down once. Nobody had ever seen anything like him in England. He was just unstoppable – an amazing guy to play against.
15. Jean-Baptiste Lafond – I played against him while I was at Cambridge University. He was an amazing player and an incredible athlete.