Athlete

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.

It really gets my back up when people start using business phrases - 'sustainability,' 'the brand,' etc. - about rugby.

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.

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.

As you get older, you realise you can't worry about mistakes; you just worry about playing, and I've been doing that.

Happiness is dangerous. If you're happy, you're content, and if you're content, you can become complacent.

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 usually don't talk for three days after a defeat. Then you have an epiphany and realise it's just a game.

You know when you've had a good game, and you know when you could have done better.

I like to think I am a happy angry person, if that makes sense.

If I talk to a young player, I always tell them never try too hard.

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.

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.

Without being too profound, I never dreamt of getting 100 caps for Wales.

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 am a big believer that change is good.

I know part of me is going to die when I stop playing rugby.

I've got it all: I'm good-looking, I'm educated, I can sing, and I can play rugby. Ridiculous, isn't it?

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.

Every cap is my first, and every one is my last... that's the way I look at it.