Lewis Moody can handle many long-legged hairy beasts that give normal mortals nightmares – Sébastien Chabal, the France No 8, for instance, was a doddle in last year’s World Cup. But put Moody in front of a long-legged hairy beast of the species Arachnida araneae and he shakes and whimpers like a girl.

“If I see a spider in the bath, I shout for my wife to take it away,” the England flanker said. Naturally, when his teammates at Leicester found out about his phobia, they made sure that any spiders that wandered into the dressing-room were put his way.

Moody was at Dudley Zoo in the West Midlands yesterday to attend an arachnophobia course that ended with him having to hold a gentle tarantula by the name of Chilli. After two hours of pep talks about how spiders mean no harm and lessons on their anatomy, he was told to hold out his hands. Breathing deeply, shaking and muttering a mantra he had been taught – “I am in control, I want to change my life” – Moody nodded his readiness, flinched as the spider was put on to his palms and then said: “It feels so light. I can barely feel it.” At the end of this week another fragile body is due to be placed in Moody’s hands. His wife, Annie, is expecting their first child, a son, on Saturday, but fatherhood holds no fears for him. Fate has even intervened to ensure that he has been able to support her during the final month of pregnancy.

Fourteen minutes into England’s first RBS Six Nations Championship match of the year, against Wales, Moody injured his right Achilles tendon. He missed the wins against Italy and France and, he said yesterday, is not likely to be fit for the match against Scotland at Murrayfield on March 8. “I went for a run for the first time on Monday and it is still not right,” Moody said. “I wanted to have been back for the France game, but now it is likely to be Ireland [on March 15], if at all. It is very disappointing as I missed the Six Nations last year with a shoulder injury, so I’m feeling quite frustrated. But in terms of being around to help Annie, it has been ideal.”

Moody tries to be pragmatic about his injuries – after all, he has earned more than 50 caps for England and has played in two World Cup finals. “It’s the nature of our sport,” he said. “Some players, like Neil Back [the former England flanker], are lucky in terms of injuries, but most will pick up knocks at least once a season.” He added that he felt sorry for Tom Rees, the London Wasps flanker who replaced him against Wales but was taken off with knee ligament damage.

Moody’s absence has given a chance to Michael Lipman, James Haskell and Tom Croft and with Joe Worsley, another established back-row player, also injured, England’s pack has had an unfamiliar look this year. “It’s been the first time for a while that England have not had an experienced back row,” Moody, 29, said. “But Haskell and Crofty are quality players. That back row will be formidable in a few years.” Yet he plans to remain part of England’s future and is intent, body willing, on playing in a third World Cup.

Perhaps he should revert to his childhood position. “I started out as a centre and Will Carling was my hero,” Moody said. “I have a signature that he gave me when I was 9 in my bedroom. I had visions of being an elusive centre, scoring thousands of tries, but although I went to the county trials as a centre when I was 17, they stuck me in the back row. I played a blinder and haven’t looked back. I keep hoping Leicester will try me as a centre.” Moody was speaking to promote Airwaves chewing gum and the Wrigley’s Kick Up A Gear campaign, which encourages people to do something for the first time. It is the second time he has confronted his fears, having had to tackle a hatred of heights when the Marines took the England team on a high-wire assault course before the 2007 World Cup. “The only other thing I’m scared of is bees,” Moody said. “I’m not sure I want to be covered in them.”

Best of the web

— Britain has more than 600 native species of spider. None of them is poisonous to humans and only a few are able to bite us.

— Many spiders have been shipped into the country by accident, including the notorious Black Widow, which is 15 times more poisonous than a rattlesnake. One Black Widow was found in a car imported from America last year.

— False Widows, which resemble the Black Widow, are increasingly common because of warmer winters. Some species of False Widow are native to England, others have been introduced from the Canary Islands.

— Last month a shopper in Plymouth found an African Sac spider nesting in a bag of grapes.

— In 2006, a Red-kneed Tarantula was posted to a Marks & Spencer worker. The spider has a leg span of up to 26cm.

— Britain’s largest spider is the Raft Spider, which can catch small fish. Its body can be more than an inch long.

Words by Patrick Kidd