The oldest player to start a Lions tour, Back will relish the chance to prove to people he is not 'over the hill' just as he has shown throughout his career that he is not too small to be a top-drawer flanker.

That was the perceived wisdom when a 5ft 10in Back burst onto the scene with Leicester in 1990 but within four years he had made his England debut and he went on to win 66 caps - and a World Cup winners' medal along the way - before retiring from international rugby in March last year.

Sir Clive Woodward knows his game, though, and despite Back being closer to his 40th birthday than his 30th, the World Cup-winning coach had no hesitation in taking him to New Zealand.

A quick-thinking and dangerous forward, Back is a potent attacking weapon - he is Leicester's record league tryscorer of all time - yet his defensive work cannot be overlooked and it is regularly he who disrupts opposition ball, looking for the turnover by fair means or foul.

Back's dedication to fitness and training, combined with his clever forward play, made him an early model for English professionalism and in recent years has more than compensated for his advancing age.

At 36 Back can still bring an extra dimension to Woodward's plans on his third Lions tour, and as long as he is fit and available he could well get one last hurrah with a Test starting berth this summer.