Paul Hodgson has become part of the fabric of London Irish since he joined the club in July 2004 from Bristol Shoguns.

'Dodge', as he is affectionately known by his teammates, started his career with Sutton & Epsom, where he spent 13 years before moving to London Wasps in 2001 and then onto the west country side.

Hodgson's international career started at U18 and U21 level, he also represented England 7s in the IRB World Sevens Series.

The Epsom-born scrum half has made a huge impact, on and off the pitch, both domestically and in Europe over the past seven seasons, and he remains one of the key ingredients in the Exiles' future success.

Hodgson is a talkative, quick-witted half back with the speed and power to cause opposing defenders problems. His worth was acknowledged in May 2008 when he was named Player of the Season at the club's annual awards ceremony.

To date he has made 188 first team appearances and scored 11 tries for the Exiles as well as earning nine international caps with England.

Hodgson's senior international career, started when he guided the England Saxons to a second successive Barclays Churchill Cup title in 2008, playing in all three of England's matches including the final against Scotland A.

Hodgson made his long awaited England debut as a replacement against Ireland during the 2008 RBS 6 Nations and after he was named in the Sky Sports 2008-9 Premiership Dream Team in May 2009, he added to his tally when he came off the bench in both of the June 2009 tests against Argentina.

Hodgson went onto appear in all three 2009 Investec Challenge Series games last autumn and subsequently in the first three RBS 6 Nations matches. 'Dodge was recently involved in the England Saxons squad that won the 2011 Churchill Cup.