Moore told me: The work starts now

MY FIRST captain in senior rugby was Brian Moore, at Nottingham. I’d gone there having just played for England U19 Colts and he’d just come back from the 1989 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia and I always remember his first words to me were, ‘congratulations on playing for England Colts but now you start at the bottom again, this is men’s rugby’

- WAYNE KILFORD

He wasn’t being unkind, it was just his way of letting me know that the hard work started here, and if I ever needed a role model in that respect, it was him. You’d turn up for training and he’d always be out doing extras before and after sessions. Scotland lock Chris Gray took over as captain when Brian left for Harlequins so I was lucky to have two good captains during my time there.

There were a lot of people to look up to in those days at Nottingham. We had Gary Rees and Simon Hodgkinson with England, Gary Hartley was an England B international. One thing I learnt early on was that the pace of the game, both in speed and thought were very different to my junior rugby at Mansfield. Being around internationals and getting their take on the game was huge for my development.

When I started at Nottingham, Hodgy was a 10, that was his position. One of the reasons why he got picked for England was because his goal-kicking was exceptional but as Rob Andrew had the 10 jersey nailed down, England asked if he could get a run of games at full-back. I’d have played anywhere to be honest just as long as I was in the team and I was more than happy to fill in on the wing. Ireland Avenue was the best playing surface I have ever played on, as a runner and a kicker, so I always enjoyed playing there whatever number I had on my back.