“I was mentally stale, and for eight months I got as far away from rugby as I could,” he said An Elvis fan, he visited Graceland “It was awesome I love America. You could call me a Yankophile.” He also took in the Sydney Olympics On his return in 2000, Leicester offered him a contract. “I knew what they were all about and I was hoping some of it would rub off on me. It was too good a challenge to turn down.”Chuter has another year at Welford Road, where next season there will be significant changes, not only through the retirement of Johnson and Neil Back but the departure of the coach, John Wells “That’s a big blow,” Chuter said. “Wellsy’s done a fantastic job, better than he probably thought he could Leic- ester’s loss is England’s gain. I’ll be very surprised if he isn’t fast-tracked from the National Academy to the England set- up. Why he’s leaving is between him and the club.”Despite the fall-out from the match with Saracens, Chuter enjoyed returning to Vicarage Road “They gave me a nice reception I went into the bar and saw a lot of the Fez boys There’s no bad blood.”.

We’ve got a massive end to the season and we can’t afford to lose any game. We’ve scored a lot of points and attacking rugby sells season tickets, but it’s defence that wins trophies. That’s the real benchmark.”Chuter is a Londoner, born in Greenwich in July 1976 He was delivered at 3pm GMT. I was on the fringe, but the lack of Six Nations experience counted against me. If he’d offered it to me I’d have jumped down Clive Woodward’s throat.”It’s very difficult to be too disappointed if you’ve never been there I’ve got other things to think about.

“My wife rang, said I wasn’t in the squad and then told me to get some milk. Last October, he and Chuter were cited for stamping on the Bath captain, Jonathan Humphreys, during a fiery Premiership match at Welford Road Corry was suspended for two weeks, Chuter for six. “We were five yards from their line, Humphreys was lying on the ball and Martin and I gave him a rucking,” Chuter said. “They said it was reckless because it was a bit close to his head. Humphreys was prepared to speak up for us, but that doesn’t cut a lot of mustard.”Apart from the enforced break Chuter, who had been understudy to Dorian West and Richard Cockerill, is having the season of his career. Few hookers could have scored the try Chuter did in the second leg of their epic Heineken Cup collision with Wasps. “There was a break down the right, I was supporting Austin Healey on the inside and I had Alex King to beat.