Dream Team: Sam Vesty – former Bath, Leicester back

1. Graham Rowntree – We went to the same school and he was always there for the younger guys – which was rare as there weren't that many friendly faces in the Leicester team when I was coming through!
2. Schalk Brits – I like a hooker who carries the ball and he is completely different to the rest. He has the biggest step anyone's seen.
3. Martin Castrogiovanni – Castro just gets it over Dan Cole. As a back, he's a player that you always follow when he smashes through. He was full of life, a joker – he always referred to himself as ‘Big Time'.
4. Martin Johnson – He's the first-ever captain I had. He didn't say a lot but when he spoke, you listened. I remember he came back the week after winning the World Cup because Leicester needed him. He never saw himself as Martin Johnson, World Cup winner.
5. Danny Grewcock – The kind who did all the hard work and would have kept going for 230 minutes if you'd have asked him. He would never back down.
6. Tom Croft – In his first game for Leicester, Pat Howard designed a play for him – we kicked cross-field, he caught it and ran 60m. That's when we all thought ‘this kid's got something'!
7. Paul Volley – He made my life hell in one game when I was quite young. He kept saying ‘I'm going to get you Vesty, I'm going to get you'. I'm not usually put off like that but he got to me.
8. Henry Tuilagi – I've picked him just for his belligerent ability to tackle and run through a whole team. My job was to catch the ball and put it into his hands.
9. Harry Ellis – I was also a No.9 as a kid, but I played against him when I was ten and my dad told me ‘you'll have to change positions – he's that good'. He was belligerent, tough, and you'll find we are the only backs to have cauliflower ears.
10. Dan Carter – I faced him at U21 level and back then we all thought we were lucky that Luke McAlister was on the bench instead of this kid. Not for long.
11. Nick Abendanon – A massive talent and I can't believe he hasn't played more for England. He's done it so consistently for Bath and seemed to get hit more than anyone.
12. Tim Horan – Always a bit of legend in my eyes and playing against him at Saracens was like trying to tackle a load of bricks.
13. Ollie Smith – I played with him when I was eight, and he went onto become the youngest player in the Premiership. He had the best outside break and you don't see many of them these days.
14. Seru Rabeni – For Tigers he just had an unbelievable ability to beat people. Time and again.
15. Geordan Murphy – He had all the ability in the world, but the thing that made him great was that he never made any mistakes. I played hundreds of games with him and I can't remember him slipping, running the wrong line or anything.