Road trip revives Steve Thompson's love for push and shove

If England beat New Zealand this afternoon part of the secret will be traceable to the long, empty highways of small-town America. As Steve Thompson chased his dream down Route 66 this summer on a Triumph motorbike, complete with Easy Rider-chic handlebar moustache, leather waistcoat and star-spangled bandana, he was reminded yet again there is more to life than rugby. Some athletes struggle to recover from this revelation; Thompson has experienced precisely the opposite effect. Even getting himself briefly arrested, courtesy of a Missouri traffic cop who caught him breaking state laws by not wearing a helmet, was all part of the fun. On his 3,000-mile, 12-day odyssey from Chicago to Los Angeles shared with a couple of mates, Thompson also promised himself he would enjoy every remaining last drop of his international career. The result is that England's answer to Dennis Hopper, rather than his protege Dylan Hartley, will wear the white No2 jersey against the All Blacks today. Does it matter if hookers are unhappy? Brian Moore has never had a problem when it comes to railing against life's injustices. Thompson, though, is a completely different man from the World Cup winner who, in his early Test days, found the whole experience almost too much to bear. "I used to be so stressed," he says softly, having shed his leathers and slipped back into the standard training kit of the ordinary pro. "It wasn't that I didn't enjoy it but I was just so worried about letting people down. Even when England were doing well there was the pressure of winning. There was always pressure. I enjoy it more now, rather than being worried by it." In Thompson's case the trigger for change was stark and unavoidable. In April 2007 he announced his retirement from rugby having received medical advice that persistent neck problems would make it too dangerous to continue. For six months he was a punter, drinking what he liked and expanding to a generous 138kg. Then he went for a second opinion, repaid his insurance payout of £500,000 and began training again. Little wonder the 32-year-old, now 115kg, sounds almost born again. From the England management's perspective he also has the priceless quality of knowing how to defeat the All Blacks. Thompson featured in the 2002 Twickenham win and was there again in Wellington in 2003 when England's six-man scrum, the infamous "white orcs on steroids", held out against the chastened hosts. Such experiences taught him, above all, never to feel inferior to anyone clad in a black jersey. "You can't let them beat you before you get on the field. That's what happens to some teams. They just clam up and don't play their normal game. Often you'll come off at half-time against them thinking: 'This isn't as hard as we thought it was going to be.' If you let them come at you they're a great team, they always have been. But if you get in their faces and try and match them, hopefully you can rattle them." That process, for Thompson, also includes staring down the haka, regardless of what the International Rugby Board choose to recommend. "Watching it fires me up even more. I get to sing my national anthem beforehand which, for me, is the best bit. Then you go and watch the haka which is basically an eye-balling competition. If you can, you pick out your opposite number and just stare at them. When it finishes you just feel this massive surge of adrenaline. If anything, it works for us." By now it is already clear why Johnson picked him for this fixture. Hartley may have the edge in the loose nowadays but Thompson is the equivalent of a London cabbie: he acquired Test rugby's equivalent of "the knowledge" long ago and knows all the best rat-runs. He also talks a good game. "Realistically are there any games we can't win this autumn? If we turn up we're capable of winning every game. I'm sure there will be ups and downs but we know we've got a good squad. We know we're going the right way and we can't let anything splinter us. We've got to go in feeling positive, look to beat the All Blacks, and move on from there." There are other goals, too. Winning his 50th cap last year was a major personal milestone and today he will come within six appearances of equalling Moore's tally of 64, the record English haul for a hooker. "My big ambition was to get to 50 but if I could beat Moore that's always better, isn't it?" If he does so, the aforementioned state troopers may regret not securing his autograph. "In the end they were brilliant. They just said: 'Get your helmets back on.' The trip was the best thing I've done. I just loved every day of it, though it was a bit boring coming out of Chicago. The Grand Canyon was amazing, New Mexico was beautiful. The further you go the better it seems to get." The same might be said for his career. Now happily ensconced at Leeds Carnegie after a spell hunting wild boar in the Corrèze and playing for Brive he has been pleasantly surprised by the renewed emphasis on the scrum, always a favoured area of his game. "A couple of years ago everyone was wheeling and there wasn't that much full-on scrummaging. Now teams are really using it as a weapon again. It's a big part of my game and I'm glad it's back. Hopefully we will get to scrummage to the best of our ability against New Zealand." Either way, England's hairy biker will not be slipping back into over-anxious old habits. "I'm just going to enjoy it. It's the best thing ever to pull on the England shirt and my aim is simple: to play my best game for England. If I have a bad one, it's not through lack of effort because I'll have prepared the best I can." Would he settle for a gallant loss? "If we lose by a point having played well, we'll be absolutely gutted because we'll think we should have won. We'd be in a better position than we have been but I don't even want to consider losing." Which prompts today's million-dollar question: will Thompson's England get their kicks beside the A316?