England's most-capped scrum-half in history, Dawson embarks on his third successive Lions tour this summer looking to add to the five caps he has already won.

At 32, the Wasps man may well be getting on in years but his experience of touring South Africa - where he played in all three Tests and scored a try - and Australia will stand him in good stead should Dwayne Peel fail to hit the heights he has done for Wales recently.

Having made his England debut a decade ago, Dawson was given the honour of leading his country on their tour of Australia in 1998 and gained many admirers for the way he coped in adversity.

Yet injuries have affected his career both at club and international level, while more recently his commitments outside of rugby - specifically as a team captain on Question of Sport - saw him dropped from the England elite squad for the 2004 Autumn internationals.

Undaunted and unrepentant, he got his head down and turned in such consistently strong displays for Wasps it made it impossible for Andy Robinson to ignore him when the Six Nations came around earlier this year.

As the link from the possession-winning forwards to the points-winning backs, Dawson is a key cog in the machine - and he has showed time and time again, particularly in his 2003 World Cup final battle with Australia's George Gregan, that he cannot be dominated by an opposing scrum-half.

His distribution can be a little slow and indeed wayward at times but his experience will be invaluable in helping his fellow scrum-halves perform to their true capabilities.