Summary
ENGLAND will recall Lawrence Dallaglio next week for the final challenge of his towering career defending the World Cup in France in September.
After spending the entire season wondering whether he still had an international future, the old warhorse is due to be summoned to the holders' pre-tournament training camp in Portugal later this month. Wasps' European Cup victory followed by two weeks of being bounced from pillar to post by the Springboks convinced head coach Brian Ashton that Dallaglio cannot be excluded any longer. On a day when he revealed that another Wasp, Phil Vickery, will be his World Cup captain, Ashton prepared to welcome Dallaglio back without further delay. 'Lawrence has never been out of the frame in terms of our thinking,' said Ashton. 'He has very good leadership skills on the field and it may well be that is something we will need come World Cup time. By his own admission, he'd not had a great season up to the start of the Six Nations but once the knockout stages of the Heineken Cup began he played better.' Short of issuing a Kitchenerstyle 'Your country needs you', Ashton could hardly have made h i m s e l f c l e a r e r. E n g l a n d ' s management, sifting through the debris of a series defeat by the crushing aggregate margin of 113- 32, now realise they need his iron will and physical power if they are to retain the World Cup. Barely six months ago, Dallaglio needed all his survival instincts to get into the Wasps team, up against the trio of team-mates who finished the Six Nations on international duty Joe Worsley, James Haskell and Tom Rees.See the full content of this document
Extract
Dallaglio Given World Cup Call
But Dallaglio is now set to mark his 35th birthday this summer with his first England start since retiring as captain thr...
See the full content of this document
Sponsored links
