Dallaglio makes English exit

LAWRENCE DALLAGLIO has refused to rule himself out for next summer’s Lions tour to New Zealand despite deciding to call time on his glittering England career.

The Wasps number eight announced his international retirement yesterday, declaring that "after 10 years of being an England player the time was right to step aside."

Dallaglio has brought down the curtain on a remarkable odyssey which began against South Africa in 1995 and included 73 appearances for England, making him the nation's fourth-highest capped individual of all time.