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England's Lawrence Dallaglio our farewell tribute

Lawrence
By Barney Burnham
September 8 2004
Unofficial England Rugby Union pays tribute to former Captain Lawrence Dallaglio and who better to do this, than our very own Barney Burnham.
 

Lawrence Bruno Nero Dallaglio 

There's  always been a presence about Lawrence Dallaglio It's not just the size - and over the years, those massive shoulders seem to have got much broader. There's an air about the man - the confident swagger of someone who knows their worth and is at completely at ease with himself. As another former England captain, Roger Uttley, puts it: "When he walks into a room, you are immediately aware of him and you sit up and take notice. When Lawrence looks around a room, the quality of his eye contact is quite piercing - it fixes people."

 
It was at Murrayfield, in 1993, that the talents of this son of Shepherds Bush were first seen on a world stage. He played a leading role as England stormed to  stunning and unexpected victory in the  Sevens World Cup, beating  Australia in the final.
 
In the Australian side that day was one David Campese. So impressed was he by the young Wasp that he asked him after the game: "Strewth, mate - are you a back or a forward?" A rare moment of Campo respect for a Pom.
 
Throughout the tournament. Dallaglio impressed with his speed, power and crunching tackling - qualities that clearly marked him out as a future star of full-blown Test rugby.
 
He'd joined Wasps in 1990, still mourning the loss of his much-loved sister Francesca, who'd perished in the Marchioness riverboat disaster the previous year.
 
It took him some time to establish himself in the first team. In the season after the Sevens triumph, he spent much of his time on the bench, coming on as a replacement back as often as he did as a forward. Despite that, he did enough to earn himself a place in the England party which toured South Africa in summer 1994. With Tim Rodber, Dean Richards and Ben Clarke forming a mighty back row, he had to be content with a place in the midweek side.
 
Jack Rowell replaced Dick Best as England coach and Dallaglio disappeared from the England radar. Much to his disappointment, he was left out of the 1995 World Cup party. It was a temporary blow, as the next season was to be the making of the young man.
 
When the game's administrators made the momentous decision that it should go professional, Sir John Hall's cheque-book sparked a Rob Andrew-led Wasps exodus to Newcastle. With skipper Dean Ryan and vice-captain Steve Bates among those heading north, the Sudbury club faced a potential crisis. Supporters were contemplating the prospect of relegation, but they needn't have worried. The club made the inspired decision of giving the captaincy to Dallaglio, and he responded in style.
 
Wasps qualified for Europe, and Dallaglio's own form brought him England recognition. He won his first cap as a second-half replacement in the defeat against world champions South Africa, before making his first start against Western Samoa, a month later. He marked the occasion with a try.
 
The following year saw Will Carling step down as England captain. Dallaglio's name was in the frame to succeed him, but, instead, the job went to Phil de Glanville. Undeterred, Dallaglio led Wasps to the league title, and was selected for the Lions tour of South Africa, playing magnificently in all 3 Tests of that epic series.
 
Dallaglio's chance to lead his country came after  Clive Woodward succeeded Jack Rowell as England coach. Woodward saw Dallaglio as the key man to lead his rugby revolution, but he couldn't have had a tougher start - 4 games against the Tri-Nations giants.
 
A dour draw against Australia was followed by a creditable, but comprehensive defeat against New Zealand, at Old Trafford. Another defeat followed, against South Africa, before England fans finally had something to cheer about. Dallaglio led from the front, and was one of three first-half tryscorers, as the All Blacks were rocked by an inspired England performance. The game eventually ended as a draw, but the seeds of England's rise had been sown.
 
Just over a year later came the long-awaited first Woodward win over one of the Southern Hemisphere giants, as South Africa's record run of wins was ended in a nailbiting encounter at Twickenham.
 
The final Five Nations Championship, in 1999, brought heartbreak for England, as they were denied Grand Slam glory by a Scott Gibbs try and Neil Jenkins conversion at Twickenham.
 
For Dallaglio, though, much worse was to come. He fell victim to a tabloid honey trap, and was forced to step down from the captaincy, amidst drug allegations which he's always strenuously denied.
 
He returned to the England side that autumn. Martin Johnson had succeeded him as captain, taking the side into an ultimately disappointing World Cup campaign.
 
Interestingly, Johnson himself had not been surprised to see Dallaglio being made captain in 1997 - despite his own success as captain of the victorious Lions. "Safety was not what Clive wanted in his early days in charge. He was trying to rid English rugby of its 'boring' tag and perhaps believed that Lawrence would be more aggressive and attacking than I might have been."
 
In his autobiography, Johnson goes on to say "Lawrence is a born leader. People gravitate towards him and are prepared to follow him. If you had a group of twenty blokes stuck in the jungle, he would become a leader of that group. He is a strong, charismatic character, who enjoys taking on responsibility and thrives on it."
 
With Johnson at the helm, and Woodward's side becoming more confident and settled, England's star continued to rise. Despite another Grand Slam disappointment at Murrayfield, there were further wins against South Africa, home and away, and against world champions Australia.
 

On the club front, Wasps had won  two cups - one under the captaincy of Mark Weedon - and had finished second in the 2000/1 Premiership. But disaster struck in the playoff semi-final against Bath, at Loftus Road. Dallaglio suffered a knee injury, which threatened to rule him out of that summer's Lions tour to Australia. Miraculously, and - with the benefit of hindsight - mistakenly, he was declared fit. 

It was clear from the start of his only tour appearance, against Australia A, at Gosford, that he was not fit. The confident, rooster-like swagger was not there. He was off the pace, and looked like a worried man. His tour was over, almost before it had begun. Then came the bad news for Wasps fans - he needed surgery, and would be out for much of the 2001/2 season.

 
In his absence, Wasps struggled, spending much of the season at the bottom of the table, and even losing to Italian opposition in the Heineken Cup. During those dark times, Dallaglio was far from idle. Every day, he was working in the gym, building up that already impressive physique. When he returned, the effect was instant. Wasps reeled off a string of wins, and came tantalisingly close to Heineken Cup qualification.
 
In Dallaglio's absence, the former Ireland coach Warren Gatland had succeeded Nigel Melville as Wasps Director of Rugby. The rest is history - Wasps have won back-to-back Premiership titles, the Parker Pen Challenge Cup, and the biggest club prize of all - the Heineken Cup.

Dallaglio came straight back into international rugby, at the end of the 2002 Six Nations, coming off the bench to score a try in an easy win in Rome. By then, though, France had again denied them the Grand Slam.
 
It all came right for Woodward's men in the 2002/3 season. The Tri-Nations teams were all seen off at Twickenham, but Dallaglio himself was dropped to the bench after the opening game, against New Zealand.
 
He soon won his place back, as England finally banished the Grand Slam monkey from their backs. Dallaglio's opening try in Dublin opened the floodgates, and the runaway win against Ireland sealed a magnificent domestic season.
 
Down Under, the Wasps captain was outstanding in the wins against New Zealand and Australia. Former All Black Stu Wilson was forced to comment that Dallaglio had shown just how an All Black should play.
 
The final phase of the road to glory came in the World Cup, in Australia. Despite being publicly rebuked for his form, Dallaglio played every minute of every game, and started the move which led to Jason Robinson's try on that never-to-be-forgotten night in Sydney.
 
Dallaglio's personal trophy cabinet is now complete. He has two World Cup medals - the 1993 Sevens, and RWC 2003 (only Matt Dawson also has both). On the club front, he has league, cup, Parker Pen and Heineken Cup winners' medals. He was also in the Wasps squad which won the 1993 Middlesex Sevens. He's won every individual honour in the game, and has nothing left to prove.
 
He's as loathed by opposition fans as he is adored by the Wasps faithful. The Shed regard him as Public Enemy number 1, regularly giving him the sort of reception normally associated with pantomime villains. It's water off a duck's back. He is one of the most competitive beasts around, who loves challenges. Taunts from the terrace merely spur him on.
 
Many of those same Shedheads will also, grudgingly admit that, they'd love to have him playing for them
 
When asked to name his least favourite opponent, Thomas Castaignède replied: "Lawrence Dallaglio. On the pitch, he's awful - always complaining. Off the pitch, he's such a nice guy." Many opposition fans, who've met Dallaglio, would agree.
 
One thing which always stirs up opposition fans is the regular 'chatting' with referees. It doesn't seem to upset the men with the whistle. Chris White was asked whether any of the game's most talkative players would make good referees. "Lawrence would." was his immediate, and genuine reply.
 
Throughout his career, Lawrence's parents have been loyal supporters. They are a familiar sight at Wasps matches, and anybody who's ever sat near his mum Eileen would realise that 1) she has a very loud voice, 2) it's not wise to criticise her little lad.
 
They had not planned to go to Australia last year. His father, Vincenzo, says Lawrence arranged, and paid for, their trip: "He said 'I wouldn't want you to miss it. I firmly believe we're going to win this cup, and I want you and mum to be there.' "
 
Dallaglio has nothing left to achieve in the game which he has graced for so long. Many have tried to read hidden agendas into his sudden, and surprising decision to retire from the international game. Why not accept that he's done all there is to be done, and that he now wants to get his own life back? In his resignation press statement, he constantly referred to the 'treadmill' of life for the modern rugby player. If he wants to spend more time with Alice and their three children, aged, 2, 5 and 7, few can deny that he's earned the right to that time.

He is a proud man. He probably regrets that his record as England captain doesn't match what he's achieved as Wasps skipper - but his record needs to be put into perspective.

 
He was Woodward's first captain, taking charge of a new team, with four games against Southern Hemisphere opposition  as his first, daunting challenge. By the time he was forced to stand down, England had become more settled and successful. Martin Johnson inherited that momentum, kept the settled side and moved it on to the ultimate prize. When he retired, and Dallaglio took up the reins, the side was either rebuilding or falling apart, depending on whether you regard the glass as half full or half empty.
 
He led his country in 22 matches, winning 10, drawing 2, and losing 10. Bill Beaumont, widely acknowledged as one of our greatest captains, also skippered England 22 times. His record - won 11, drawn 3, lost 8.Under his leadership, England played Southern Hemisphere opposition 3 times. Under Dallaglio, England had 9 matches against the Tri-Nations giants. Make of the comparison what you will.
 
Dallaglio certainly never had the tactical awareness of Johnson, who is probably the greatest captain England have had in any sport. Instead, he was, and is, a man who leads by example. During the disappointing run since the World Cup, he at times seemed bemused by his side's poor performances, finding it hard to rouse players who were clearly out of form. His own form remained superb - after the Six Nations, many observers rated him England's man of the tournament.
 
He remained defiant in defeat Down Under this summer, performing heroically as a makeshift lock, following Simon Shaw's contentious dismissal in Auckland. At his resignation press conference, he said that, perversely, he had enjoyed the tour. He then added, ruefully, that the only part he hadn't enjoyed had been the 80 minutes he'd spent in the second row.  
 
If anybody wants to question his captaincy, they may wish to take it up with Shaun Edwards OBE - one of the toughest, and greatest players ever to grace either rugby code. "In all my time in rugby, I've never known anyone inspire players like him. He's the best captain I've ever come across, and certainly the most inspirational. Sometimes, before a game, I have to leave the changing room, because he makes me feel like putting the boots on myself. He really gets the players fired up to perform at their best. And then on the field, he's at the coal face all the time - he never takes a backward step. That was our philosophy at Wigan, and Lawrence would have fitted in well with the great Wigan team that I played in."
 
His international retirement may be bad news for England, who can't afford to lose world-class players - but it's good news for Wasps. His dedication to  the only club he's ever known is unrivalled. He's currently nearing the end of a  Testimonial Years, which will certainly make him a rich man - but it's also on course for his target of raising a million pounds for charity. He gives as much time as he can spare to charity, working hard for the Wooden Spoon Society. He is always generous in his support for good causes. A request for prizes in a raffle in aid of the Nick Duncombe Memorial Fund produced a whole sack of kit, signed books and other memorabilia. He's even worn, and played in a Harlequins shirt to support Nick's fund - anathema to a Wasp!
 
There are also the little things - a smile here, a friendly word there. Few, if any, autograph hunters are turned away, and the Dallaglio features must adorn countless thousands of photographs taken with and by admiring fans.
 
At last season's epic Heineken Cup semi-final in Dublin, Munster's mascot was a young boy with a rare disease which had led to his head being mis-shaped. It's not widely known that, after the game, with the Wasps players already getting stuck in to an evening of celebrations in Temple Bar, the Wasps captain was entertaining the little lad at the team hotel, and making him feel very special.
 
His departure from the international stage leaves giant boots to fill. In 73 games for his country, he has writ his name large in to the history books. In the view of Shaun Edwards: "I think Lawrence will go down as England's best ever number 8."
 

Lawrence Bruno Nero Dallaglio - we salute you!

 
 
 

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