Dallaglio returns for England

ENGLAND coach Brian Ashton has turned to Lawrence Dallaglio for the first time and offered the veteran Wasps captain a route to the World Cup.

Dallaglio, 34, had been out of the England picture since the 2006 RBS 6 Nations but his form in leading Wasps to victory in the Heineken Cup earned him a place in Ashton’s 47-man World Cup training squad.

Dallaglio is joined in the extended party by 10 Wasps team-mates — the most of any Guinness Premiership club — and 14 other members of England’s victorious 2003 World Cup squad.

“Someone like Lawrence is never off the radar for a whole variety of reasons,” said Ashton.

“By his own admission, he wasn’t playing well enough to be picked for the Six Nations.

“Once the Heineken Cup got to the knockout phases, he demonstrated he is good enough to play again and influence a game at that level.

“It was purely on the playing side that he came back into consideration for selection. Had he not been playing at that level then he would not have been considered.”

But England’s back-row options are strong and Ashton insisted Dallaglio still has work to do if he is to make the final 30-man World Cup squad, which must be named on August 14.