Goliath was a real gent

THE question from one of the Guernsey Mini/Youth Rugby Club members met with a slight titter from a couple of the others. 'What has been your most memorable match?' one of the youngsters asked Martin Johnson.

The barely audible giggles were unsurprising considering the question had been put to a man who less than 14 months earlier had lifted the Rugby World Cup. But at least the boy who asked had shown the courage to say at least that much to the man-mountain who sat in front of the 100-plus audience.

The answer was obvious, of course, and Johnson's initial smirk indicated as much, but that lasted a mere millisecond. The legendary lock forward was the consummate professional, as he always is when answering any query.

'Winning the World Cup was obviously a highlight - that's the best you can get as a player,' was the initial response, but he was not prepared to stop there and embarrass the questioner in front of his contemporaries.

'Also the Lions tour to South Africa, the two Grand Slam wins and the two European Cups with Leicester. They were all very memorable. I have been lucky,' Johnson added - the blushes were spared.

That was the man in a nutshell - honest, straightforward, polite and obliging.

Earlier it had been my turn to put the questions to 'Johnno' and as a big Leicester Tigers fan who lived in the city for three years while studying at university, it should have been my most nerve-racking interview.

As it turned out, that was far from the case because as soon as he had entered the room, he had made my colleagues from radio and me comfortable with the quip, 'is this the full extent of Guernsey's media?'. The four of us present nodded and laughed.

Generally in interviews, Johnson comes across as a particularly serious individual and admittedly he is not one to laugh or smile without reason, but to be treated with respect by a man who has achieved so much and upon whom so many young eyes were transfixed in awe at the time was a privilege.

Straight after I had finished, it was the children's turn for questions and answers and I have never seen such a large group so amazingly attentive. Admittedly, I wish I had thought of some of the questions they did, particularly: 'Have you seen Superstars on TV? Would you like to go on it?'

An original question to which a smiling Johnson replied: 'Possibly. I am not a quick runner, I can't swim, I'm not very good on a bike and I might have difficulty with the gym work because I have got a dodgy shoulder. But other than that?'

For the half-hour of questions he was faultless and, most importantly, for him it was a pleasure rather than a chore. Earlier he had said to me: 'We actually did some training with the kids in Singapore - it's a pity we could not have done that here.'

It was in a way, but the Sarnian youngsters still had a memorable afternoon.

The point to all this? Well, I had heard that you should never meet your heroes as they will only disappoint you.

Johnno didn't.