My Life in Rugby: Tim Stimpson – former Newcastle, Leicester, Perpignan & England full-back

The Lions tour in 1997 was the pinnacle of my career. It was a phenomenal experience.
I was 23, just come through the system and loving life. It was great to be coached by Ian McGeechan. He gave us a massive sense of belief. It was a great tour and a life-changing experience.
I wish I could’ve played better and had more chances with England but Jason Robinson was a phenomenal player and he deserved to be picked. He is the best player I played with or against.
I started playing rugby when I was four. My dad was player-coach at Sandal RUFC, in Wakefield, and I was the ball boy. I joined the Under-8s and stayed there until I was 15.
I also played for Silcoates School before going to Durham University, where I was in the same team as Will Greenwood for two years. As full-back it was great to play with one of the best centres in the world from 18 onwards.
When the game went professional Rob Andrew signed a load of us for Newcastle. That was a great experience – playing with the likes of John Bentley, Gary Armstrong and Tony Underwood and we won the league.
I left after some contract disagreements and joined Tigers – when that team was really peaking with Will, Austin Healy and so many others. It was highly competitive which was the main reason we were so successful.
The message was that we wanted to be considered the best club team in the world and until we won the Heineken Cup and reclaimed it, we didn’t have that accolade.
And one of the career highlights is beating Stade Francais in the 2001 Paris final. We wanted to be up against the best because we rated our chances and we had under-achieved up until that point.
I got a late conversion after Leon Lloyd had scored to open up a four-point gap meaning they would need a try. I was up against the little maestro, Diego Dominguez, and he wasn’t going to miss a penalty so we needed that gap.
Despite all the success at Welford Road, winning a string of Premiership titles and back-to-back Heineken Cup finals, I had a frustrating time trying to make the World Cups.
I got very close to playing in 1999 and 2003 and felt it was the right time for me to have a new challenge in Perpignan.
It all looked good on paper. They got to the Heineken Cup final that year and had a great team – like Toulon now.
But I found a tumour in my knee and had to go to court for 18 months to prove it wasn’t my fault.
I still love France but it is not a good place to be injured. I came back to England and had a good spell with Leeds Tykes before calling it a day.
I now have a financial services business called Sporting Partnerships, trying to raise money for charity and for grassroots sport.