Are England's sportsmen going soft? First, news came of the England cricket team camping it up for the cameras in various states of undress and even make-up to promote their new sponsor, Hugo Boss. Now the national rugby team's hardest man, Simon Shaw, is being used to promote Bulldog skincare, a "natural grooming product for men", on behalf of his club, London Wasps. We won't even start on the football team.
Not that anyone would accuse Shaw of being girlie to his face. The 6ft 9in lock has hands the size of dinner plates and a chest like a fridge and, so the story goes, is so heavy that teammates have refused to lift him in the lineout.
"Luckily, I've lost a few pounds since then," he growls. "I'm about 19 stone now and I wouldn't want to be any bigger. I think I've found my ideal fighting weight." England will be hoping he is right as their Six Nations campaign gets under way - they played their first game against Wales yesterday. If they are to progress in the tournament against the holders, France, they will need Shaw and his second-row partner Steve Borthwick on top form.
They will be hoping to repeat the successful forward play that helped England to recover from a dreadful start to defend their world crown in the final against South Africa in the last World Cup. In that competition, Shaw's giant frame and fiery temperament led to comparisons to another famous England lock, Martin Johnson, the England captain who led his team to victory in the World Cup in Australia in 2003. "Personally, I can't see it," he shrugs. "I think we're totally different. People have actually come up to me in bars thinking I'm Martin. I have to say that I take that as a real insult.
"C'mon . . . I know I've got scars and cauliflower ears, but I am much better-looking."
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Shaw grew up in Kenya until the age of 16, where his first sporting success was in the shot put and discus at school. His father suggested that he take up rugby and he progressed from schools level to the Bristol team. He joined Wasps in 1997.
Shaw won his first England cap against Italy in 1996. His place in the national team was a stop-start affair, not helped by injury, nor by his becoming, in 2004, only the third England player to be sent off in a Test match after he kneed Keith Robinson, the New Zealand player, during a game in Auckland.
He now says he has his temper under control. "There have been a couple of instances of road rage, when guys have tried to take it a bit further," he admits. "I've never resorted to getting out of the car, but in my head I've been thinking, 'Does this guy know who he's dealing with?' Especially if I've got a couple of the Wasps lads in the car with me.
"My dad once told me a story about him and his brother being carjacked when we lived in Kenya. Both of them are six foot nine and well over 20 stone. When they got out of the car, the carjackers just said, 'Sorry about that. Here's your keys back. Keep the car.' Thankfully, having to square up to guys doesn't happen to me much these days."
His choice of cars reflects a new, mature attitude too. "I'll admit I was a boy racer once," he says. "I used to race my old coach to the training ground. I was in a souped-up silver Passat; he drove a Lada. The Lada was actually better round the bends."
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Today he has a Lexus RX 400h as part of a sponsorship deal with the car maker. "It's a lovely car and best of all it's a hybrid, which means I don't have to worry about the congestion charge. I've always been terrible at remembering to pay things like that and I ended up with huge fines.
"I've also bought my missus a Volvo XC90. We've got three kids - aged four, two and one - and this thing has three rows of seats, so there's plenty of room. As a young bloke, it's the sort of car you never think you're going to buy . . . you know, a family car. Then all of a sudden you've got three kids and the Volvo is a godsend."
Has he never been tempted to buy anything a bit flashier? What about all those footballers with their collections of Rollers, Ferraris and Lamborghinis? "Rugby players are a bit different. Most of us choose a car because it's practical. Kyran Bracken was one of the first players that went for something flashy - I think it was a DB7 - and everyone mercilessly took the piss out of him. He kept quiet about it after that."
The most emotional moment of Shaw's career was when his team lost to South Africa in the final of the World Cup last October. It was especially hard for Shaw since, though in the squad, he had not played in England's victorious 2003 campaign. "It still hurts me to think about it. Some guys got to lift the cup in 2003 and some are still young enough to play in 2011, but I knew this was my only chance. I was devastated. England always had the talent, but some people insisted on getting rid of all the players from 2003. When the right team was put together, people saw what we were capable of."
And what did he say to Princes Wills and Harry when they went for a drink after the game? "I didn't go. I couldn't. That's how upset I was. I couldn't speak to my parents. Couldn't speak to my wife. Couldn't speak to anyone. I just went back to the hotel, had a bath and went to bed.
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"Mind you, I made up for it the following night. I went out and got absolutely hammered."
My stuff...
On my CD player During the last World Cup the England team all listened to The Gambler by Kenny Rogers
In my parking space A congestion-charge-exempt Lexus RX 400h and the family's Volvo XC90
I would never throw away My World Cup winner's medal and MBE