Jason set to be top of the props

'There was no malice in it. I saw Rob at the dinner that night and he told me he didn't have a problem. When I started playing as a kid, the game was a lot more brutal than it is now.

'The game's got cleaner over the years, what with all the cameras, touch judges with microphones and the citing process. That's the changing face of rugby. Nowadays it's about controlled aggression, not violence.

'I expect to stay cool, calm and collected while, at the same time, I will be busting a gut to make sure England win.

'Believe me, you are so busy gasping for air most of the time that you don't have the energy to throw a punch. The game's too fast and you're too tired.'

When Leonard began 11 years ago, he served his apprenticeship under the tutelage of the wily old prop Jeff Probyn, now an official member of the blazered brigade as a member of the RFU.

'Before the first international, in Argentina, Jeffrey took me aside and warned me what it would be like and how I would feel.'

Leonard recalled: 'He told me how it would be before 15 minutes were up.

'He said, "Your lungs will feel as if they're going to burst and your legs won't move. There'll be so many big hits and scrums you'll feel as if you're going to keel over - when that comes, don't worry about it, you'll get through it, because you have toî.'

Leonard has got through it all with minimal fuss, keeping his head amid all kinds of mayhem but never more so than when two-thirds of the French front row lost theirs in Paris nine years ago to such an extent that the Irish referee, Stephen Hilditch, sent off Vincent Moscato and Gregoire Lascube in separate incidents.

'Moscato head-butted Jeffrey which was probably as a result of Jeffrey winking at him in the previous scrum,' Leonard said.

'Then Lascube back-heeled Martin Bayfield on the head but it wasn't as scary as it might have looked because the referee did such a great job that day in regaining control.'

Beaten only twice in championship matches at Twickenham, Leonard needs no motivation to ensure that England do not fall flat on their faces as they did in the Grand Slam decider match at Murrayfield at the end of last year's tournament.

'In such treacherous underfoot conditions we should have put boot to ball a hell of a lot more that day,' he said.

'While we tried to play too much rugby, Scotland played it exactly the right way, going for territory, putting us under pressure and deservedly winning the match.

'A more pragmatic approach would have served us better but what happened proved once and for all that there's no such thing as a certain winner in any Six Nations match.'

In overtaking Fitzpatrick , Leonard reaches joint-third place on the all-time list, behind France centre Philippe Sella (111), Australia wing David Campese (101) and alongside France full back Serge Blanco.