"Tough" Daniel Craig defended by father

Daniel Craig's father has defended the star - insisting that he is the right man to play Bond.

Tim Wroughton-Craig wants his son to be taken seriously as 007, denying recent rumours that the actor is scared of speed boats and can only drive automatic cars.

"It is all cobblers," he told the Sunday Mirror. "Daniel is a hard lad - you wouldn't want to meet him in a dark street. Is he a wimp? No, I wouldn't like to call him that to his face. As for the idea he doesn't like guns - when he was younger he would play with a toy gun like any other boy.

"At 15, Daniel was playing rugby for Birkenhead Park Colts. He can look after himself all right. As a lad he was a tough rugby player and he would probably have become a professional if things hadn't turned out differently. He used to work behind the bar of a pub in Portobello Road, London, and he could certainly handle himself if fights kicked off."