He is always on call and - when he is not examining the jaws and the paws of a lion - he may be rushing off in a helicopter to treat animals injured in snares or working out how to restock a national park with game for the predators.

BBC: Working Lives Kenya: Vet

He has played the entire season with a three-inch pin in his ankle after he was seriously injured against Bath in May 2008 and has delayed having an operation to remove it in order to be available for England and the Lions, should he be required.

BBC: Jeremy Guscott column