Why I Love...

What do TV soap Holby City and an England rugby star have in common? BBC Sport Online's Tracie Simpson spent a morning with Ben Cohen and found out.

Ever wondered what professional sports stars get up to in their spare time?

Well it came as a bit of a surprise to me, but nights down at the local pub with their mates and hours spent practising their golf swing are not top of the agenda for some.

In Ben Cohen's case, evenings at home, curled up in front of his favourite soap are far more appealing.

It might be hard to believe but when this burly England winger is not terrorising Scottish defenders he loves nothing more than a good dose of Eastenders or Holby City.

England casualty: Cohen at Holby's reception

The last time we spoke he declared a faint hope of one day getting on the set of either show. I figured that given the difficult few months he'd had - his father was killed in November - that he could do with a laid-back day out.

Within minutes of walking into Producer Stephen Garwood's office in the Elstree Holby City set it became evident that Ben and his brother, Justin, who also made the trip from Northampton, were no fly-by-night Holby followers - their knowledge would put most female soap junkies to shame.

Ben professes to be no film buff but he certainly knows his soaps, and a few well-informed questions about the series had Garwood impressed.

New toy

After running through a few scripts we were whisked away onto the live set by Associate Producer Caroline Levy.

Again it became obvious just how avid a follower the Northampton star really was.

As we entered the paediatrics ward he was like a kid himself - let loose on a new toy.

"Is that the bed where they filmed that little girl taking the pills? What about that room there, that's where that boy sat whose Mother was dying?" - just a few of the comments fired at Levy as we walked through the make-shift hospital corridors.

Levy had been responsible for most of the scenes in question and was very flattered but, like me, also a little stunned to hear a young sporting hero rattle out such informed information - about a soap.

After a quick look and play with the equipment in the operating theatres, we hit the live set.

One of the show's stars, Dr Meyer, (Clive Mantle) is a huge rugby fan and a member of Bath. He was thrilled at the prospect of meeting Ben - it was the mutual appreciation society at its best.

Holby's Clive Mantle is a big rugby fan

Mantle eventually had to be dragged back for filming - but not before suggesting he was still ready to get his kit out for England if needed.

Cohen admitted with some surprise afterwards: "It was almost like he wanted to meet me more than I wanted to meet him."

How pleasant to spend time with a sports star who has such humility.

A humble sports star and soap follower he may be but at the end of the day he is still your average bloke.

While thrilled to have seen the set the Cohen brothers left me a little disappointed that there was a distinct lack of actresses running around in nurses uniforms - a much more predictable line, I thought, from a male rugby player.