Dream Team: Chris Bentley – former Exeter, Biarritz and Edinburgh lock
2. Jean-Michel Gonzalez – An old-school French player who was one of the toughest men I’ve met. He would drink espresso and laugh at us during training because he thought he was stronger than everyone.
3. Geoff Cross – As a qualified doctor he’s one of the smartest guys in rugby but he has absolutely no sense whatsoever – he got himself severely injured on his international debut running headfirst into Lee Byrne!
4. Wade Dooley – I wanted to emulate him when I was growing up and then he turned up at my junior team New Brighton when he was 40. It was incredible to play alongside him, though he punched me in training because I was winding him up and stealing his lineout ball.
5. Chris Jack – I spent time alongside him in the NPC and he was a great player to have alongside you. He read the game incredibly well. He was a Super 14 player but he wanted to do his bit for his province and that summed him up.
6. Alex Bennett – Not the best player in the world but no-one worked harder than Alex. When we lost to Northampton 43-33 in the Powergen Cup he ran himself into the ground.
7. Serge Betsen – I played with him in France. The character he has is unbelievable. You just need to look at his face to see the attitude he has and his work-rate is second to none.
8. Richie Baxter – A man of few words, but when he does speak everybody stops to listen. He has a tremendous rugby ability and I envy him as a one-club man.
9. Kahn Fotuali’I – I played with ‘Kahnage’ when he was coming through at Tasman. He was superb even then and it doesn’t surprise me that he’s now a top scrum-half with the Ospreys.
10. Tony Yapp – He spent five seasons at the Chiefs and was solid and reliable throughout. He was a superb kicker and is still the record scorer for Exeter.
11. Sireli Naqelevuki – He’s the magic man for the Chiefs, an absolutely sublime player. I remember Clermont introduced Benson Stanley just to stop Sireli when he came on – a huge mark of respect.
12. Mark Fatialofa – Time after time he came up big for us at Exeter. A classic Polynesian rugby player who gets himself pumped before for a game!
13. Alistair Murdoch – ‘The Doch’ was a tough former Australian rugby league international and could proudly bench more than any of the forwards.
14 Simon Haughton – I used to watch him play for Wigan and then played with him at Orrell. In one-on-one situations he was sublime.
15 Luke Arscott – Your ultimate Mr Dependable and proves his worth week-in, week-out for Exeter since signing from Bristol after the playoff final in 2010.
