Jason Robinson rubs his palm wearily from his forehead down to his goateed chin. It was media hour yesterday and the four or five of us at table number 11 were probably asking many of the usual questions about this rather "different" Lion. But he's too open and honest to clam up for long, and soon he's giving the essence of his life story in a more candid manner than any other Lion would.

Robinson has been the hero of the tour in many ways. Having switched codes from league to union only last May, and played a mere 17 games for Sale plus three as a sub for England (and once for England A), his selection was a throw of the dice. But how it's rolled, how he's run, scoring nine tries on tour.

Keen as mustard and hungry to learn, he may not actually be the quickest in the party, but "Billy Whizz" is assuredly the trickiest. At an early session in Perth, defensive coach Phil Larder had six-man teams in bibs pushing up to stop counterattacks by a back three. For sheer entertainment, the times Robinson ran the ball back at them was one of the highlights of the tour, and privately Lions confide that he's the one they hate defending one-on-one against.

Yet Robinson is quite humble about his status in life. "To put things into perspective, there's a lot of hype here and you play a few games and everybody thinks you're brilliant, but I'm no better than anybody else. I've a gift to play rugby. Everybody's got a gift, it's just something different."

To interview him is a little humbling as well. Before becoming a father, he would trawl the streets of Manchester at night to help the homeless. A little sheepishly he says: "I no longer do it. I don't have the time due to family commitments. There are a few other things I do, such as raising money for the children in the Philippines, and Christian missions and various other things. I am the patron of a charity house that helps under-privileged children in the Wigan area where I used to play."

The sizeable figure of fellow union and league winger, the Samoan legend Inga Tuigamala, was the catalyst for the life change for this working class lad from Leeds, and my mere mention of Inga almost provokes Robinson's life story.

"As you know, he's a born again Christian. He came to Wigan in '94 and during that time I was a wild child. Certain things had gone to my head, and some pressures with the game I was basically too immature to handle. I have to admit it now, I couldn't admit it then, and to be honest everything on the pitch was going fine but personally things weren't going fine.

"I tried all sorts of things to help that, whether it be materialistic, relationships, and drink as well. There were times when I'd drink five nights a week because I had problems that I was running away from. To cut a long story short, it got the better of me and I realised there must be more to life than just going out drinking, nightclubbing and having the best car. It's false, it don't last.

"When Inga came I saw in him something different. I thought well, 'What's with him?' because he doesn't drink or go out. He's not involved in all these relationships. He's not bothered about driving about in the best car and I thought, 'Well, what's he go to be so happy about?' I realised it was his faith.

"He told me once he had a dream about me and I was standing on top of the world. And that was right. I was young, everything was going well, I was in the Wigan first team and I was playing international level. And he said he saw the world crumbling from underneath my feet, and that was my personal life. It sort of shook me at the time, and I realised I didn't want to carry on living the way I was living, because it was false. I never had peace.

"I gave my life to the Lord and things started to change. I haven't been in a pub for five-and-a-half years drinking. I'll have a glass of wine with a meal or something like that but it just doesn't interest me any more. Things I used to do and places I used to go I just don't bother with. I've got my family now and I'm happy with that place where my life is."

Having got to know him a little on this tour, talking to those who know him better and, later, stopping to talk about fatherhood and the vagaries of television (which is banned in his house after 4.0p.m.) on impressionable young minds, he certainly exudes a sense of contentment.

Robinson admits he first saw a game of rugby union just four years ago, but that it's far more complex than league, especially when weighing up the greater options when the ball is kicked in behind him. Again, his faith was his primary reason for changing to union, and he prayed for guidance for six months before making the decision.

"It's easy in this game to make decisions on money and I didn't want to go somewhere just for money, because I know there's more to life than money. Wigan were offering me more money than Sale were, so it would have been the easy option to stay at Wigan and be in the comfort zone. But I was led this way. It was right and things worked out really well."

He could have joined more glamorous clubs, but he wanted to accompany Appolo Perelini, who joined Sale from St Helen's, and without moving his family.

"It doesn't matter how much money you're being paid if your family is not happy where you're at, then no money can compensate for that. The challenge of getting Sale from where they were to one of the top teams is something that excites me."

He says that was his primary goal in union, and that he didn't expect this. Still and all, when he left Chris Latham rooted to the spot before rounding him three minutes into the Test series, it may have been the series' defining moment. As he punched the air, he showed how much it meant for a rugby league convert to finally put one over the all-conquering Australians, and he admits he's never known hype like this. "It was a good feeling. It's a massive stage. There's a lot at stake."