Quotes from James Haskell

I reckon every player feels much the same on the eve of a Six Nations championship. We all want to finish top, win the title and do our respective countries proud in the process. We're also aware a lot of other people are seeking precisely the same thing. Pessimism and optimism collide like two ferrets in a sack.

I've learned that, bizarrely, I enjoy having a fight. Obviously nobody likes getting hit, but I don't have a problem with it. In MMA you've got to take a few hits to reach the right position.

If you have any ambitions to improve and be a world-class side, you have to be very tough on yourselves.

We're removal men. It's hard labour. I've come to the conclusion being a forward is probably the worst thing in rugby. Looking at backs, they play kick and laugh, run and clap and we get absolutely flogged.

To be the best in the Heineken Cup or the Top 14 you've got to win home and away.

I don't think my parents imagined I'd represent England when they first drove me to mini-rugby at Maidenhead. I was only five but mum lied about my age to get me out of the house.

I do not want to gain a reputation for lacking discipline because I always look to play within the laws.

I wanted to play Super 15. I wanted to develop some maturity, some leadership and to work on my skill set. Also I want to have played all round the world.

Front squats and trap bar deadlifts are the two best big compound movements for quad growth.

Rugby is a sport in which you can lose heavily one week and still come back and smash the opposition the next.

When I left rugby and bought my first commercial gym membership it was a shock to the system. I went in there and saw people training and thought 'I've got to get out of here and get in a proper gym.'

A lot of sportsmen get depression, all sorts of mental health issues. A lot of people retire and you don't hear from them, but I don't want to do that.

When I was about 15, I learnt that training hard doesn't get easier, you just learn to push harder. That's a powerful mentality to master.

Although the TV commercials will try and have you believe otherwise, there is nothing good about breakfast cereal. No matter how 'low fat' or 'high in fibre' the box tells you it is, ditching the high sugar cereals is the first step you need to take towards a better breakfast.

When you have two-thirds of possession in any match you have got to turn that pressure into points.

Shooting's not actually a bad place to take a girl on a date, unbelievably.

In order to pack on the most amount of muscle from your training, you need to train specifically for hypertrophy.

I'm all about helping people understand more about exercise in general and more specifically on occasion, about certain key parts of their body and physique.

I love deejaying and got the opportunity to do a music production course online and loved it, but I am about as musically talented as a house brick.

International rugby is an unforgiving arena.

I think as a professional sportsman you're aware that your time is limited.

It must be very daunting being an individual sportsman.

I was always on to the next thing. I didn't celebrate all the little moments in my career that I should have done, I always focused on what was next, how could I do better.

All players want nice things to be said and written about them and you have to take the reverse in equal measure.