A former Saint puts his neck on the line again

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Steve Thompson knew it was time to consider a second coming as an international hooker when he bent over to tie his shoelaces – and could not reach. "I was so fat, I had been enjoying life really," said England's World Cup-winning No 2. "There was no more training, only the pub and takeaways. Someone said, 'Just buy some new clothes'. But I thought, 'This is stupid, I'm not even 30 years old'. That's when it all came together."

What came together was Thompson's will to fight the flab – from a gargantuan 21st 10lb, he dropped four stones in three months – after he received a surprising reappraisal on the neck injury which forced a premature end to his career in early 2007.

The former Northampton Saint is a dozen or so matches into his comeback, playing for Brive in France, and has been promised consideration for a Test recall by Martin Johnson, the England manager.

"I spoke to Johnno and I knew he'd be honest with me," said Thompson, who turned 30 in July and was inspired by the 35-year-old Mark Regan playing for England in last year's World Cup final. "That opportunity to come back and play for England is a major driving force. Every cap is a massive privilege, but I'd got to 47 caps and I still want that 50.

"Before I did my neck [playing for Northampton against Biarritz in January 2007] I'd been told by Brian Ashton I'd be starting against Scotland in the next match." The autumn internationals are "out of the question", but Thompson has his eyes on the Six Nations and then the Lions tour.

The phrase "putting your neck on the line" is wincingly apt with Thompson. Amazingly, Richard Nelson, the surgeon who advised him to give up the game or risk permanent disability, was the same man who gave the ultimate go-ahead for him to resume, concurring with a French doctor that healthy protective bone had grown around the damaged disc. Thompson paid back the money which had begun accruing from his £500,000 insurance payout and took stock.

Always big for a hooker at 6ft 2in – he was a flanker until IanMcGeechan shoehorned him into the front row when they were playerand coach at Northampton – he was, in his pomp, the epitome of the mobile, ball-carrying tight forward.

"It wasn't a reaction to not playing," Thompson recalled, "but suddenly there's parties on a Friday night and it's one or two pints in the pub most nights of the week, and before you know it, you've sort of ballooned."

Bernard Faure, a fitness coach and former French marathon champion, put him on a crash diet. More of a sprint than a marathon. And Brive believe in Thompson. The image of him with ball in hand on the charge adorns the club website with the caption "Force of Nature". There's a British enclave in the Massif Central with Ben Cohen, Andy Goode, Ben Johnston, Barry Davies and Alix Popham. "I'm learning quite a bit in the scrum, I must admit, more than I learned in the Premiership," said Thompson.

His rivals for England selection include his successor at Saints, Dylan Hartley. "I've always backed Dylan, if he gets his head right and his consistency right," he said.

"England are going to be really well organised, whereas things were a bit shaky before. Martin Johnson will have a bit of Clive [Woodward] about him but he'll have a coach's head on as well.

"He's got respect and also people are scared of him. He led that team, in the 2003 World Cup, on and off the field. And off the field Johnno wasn't a hothead, he's intelligent and calculating.

"He will straighten it out, though it won't happen overnight. You've got to look further than the autumn with Johnno." And maybe, now, with Thommo too.