Interview: Lawrence Dallaglio, England rugby international

Published on Saturday 13 February 2010 21:03

THE World Cup-winning flanker tells Iain Morrison why his Six Nations will be spent on a gruelling 1,800-mile biking odyssey

WHEN THE match between Italy and England kicks off this afternoon in Rome's Stadio Flaminio there is one former English player who will not be found in the crowd or in front of a microphone. Instead Lawrence Dallaglio will be peddling for all he's worth somewhere on the road between Rome and Nice and, the cynical might imagine, sweating a good deal harder than his erstwhile team mates are being made to do by Italy.

Dallaglio is undertaking a charity bike ride named the "Cycle Slam" which takes in all six capital cities of the Six Nations. He set out from Rome's Stadio Flaminio on Friday morning and by the time he reaches Murrayfield on 12 March he will have covered a bum-numbing 1,800 miles and raised something in the region of 1 million. The money is to be split evenly between Sport Relief and five charities nominated by Dallaglio: Help for Heroes, Cancer Research UK, Leukaemia Research, DebRA (the UK charity working on behalf of people with the genetic skin blistering condition Epidermolysis Bullosa) and the Rugby Players' Association Benevolent Fund.

"Rather like rugby you can't do it on your own," said Dallaglio by way of explanation. "I enlisted the help of various people expecting it to be pretty small to be honest, but it's just got bigger and bigger. We now have 255 cyclists. The idea is that each one raises 3,000 as a target, on the back of that I've got sponsorship to underwrite the costs, and if we can do that we won't be far off our target of 1 million. I can't run anymore because my knees are completely buggered, I swim like a brick so the bike looked like a really good option. I am starting out with Diego Dominguez in Italy, then my old adversary and Wasps colleague Raphael Ibanez is riding through France, Will Greenwood and Jason Leonard are both doing part of the ride in England, Ieuan Evans is with me in Wales, Keith Wood is riding in Ireland and Gavin Hastings, Kenny Logan and Jill Douglas are all appearing in Scotland."

If it promises to be a struggle for Dallaglio to pedal his 17st 4lb frame across Europe, the mind struggles to contemplate the size of bicycle required to accommodate Jason Leonard. But that is just another of the logistical difficulties that a project like this entails. Hordes of cyclists have to be fed and housed in 27 hotels across six European countries over the course of one month.

Former Arsenal great Lee Dixon is booked up for a few stages, despite Dallaglio being a Chelsea fanatic: "Don't worry, I'll have him off his bike at some point." Others such as Zinzan Brooke, Steve Backley, Ian Botham and the BBC's John Inverdale are all scheduled to make an appearance, proving that Dallaglio retains the pulling power of a JCB.

The former World Cup winner established the Dallaglio Foundation, which is linked to Cancer Research UK, following the death of his mother Eileen in December, 2008 from the disease. By all accounts Eileen was a larger than life character, a giant presence in Dallaglio's life. She threw her considerable energies into supporting her son's career, especially after suffering the early tragedy of losing her daughter Francesca in the 1989 Marchioness disaster. Dallaglio concedes that the charity work that now takes up much of his time helps fill two huge voids in his life, the first being rugby and the second his mother.

"She was the cornerstone of my life," he says, "and a huge part of my career in terms of support and the team around you. She was a real driving force, as any England coach who selected me would testify. She believed in the goodness of people and always encouraged people to be the best they could be. The strapline for the Dallaglio Foundation is 'Powerful Together' and I firmly believe in that, doing things for a common good."

Eileen's Irish ancestry nearly saw Dallaglio play for that country. As a youngster struggling to break into the England set-up the flanker received a call from Ireland's chairman of selectors, Noel Murphy. "He said that he'd heard I liked a pint or two of the black stuff so how would I feel about pulling on the green jersey of Ireland, which I thought was an incredibly good chat up line."

Dallaglio put the phone down promising to give the matter some thought and the very next day he got another call, this time from England coach Jack Rowell who offered him a place in the squad to tour South Africa in 1994.

"I grew up in London and I've always felt English," said Dallaglio. "Probably having an Italian father and an Irish mother makes you a very powerful Englishman, very emotional."

As a teenager Dallaglio turned out for England Under-19s and found himself courted by a couple of Italian clubs after losing to Italy! That result is unlikely to be repeated this afternoon in Rome where England remain overwhelming favourites. A decade after first appearing in the Six Nations, the plucky Italians seem to be treading water, unable to take the next step up the ladder, although one plucky Italian disagrees.

"It depends how you measure success," says Dallaglio. "Look at France when they first joined the old Five Nations. I don't think they won a match for ten years. I think Italy has come a huge way in a short space of time. I captained England in the first Six Nations match against Italy and we put 85 points on the scoreboard. I think if you look where they are now they made an Ireland team that are supposed world beaters look, not ordinary, but certainly made them look pretty average last week.

"Winning Test matches will never be easy with their domestic situation. They have issues about getting their best players playing in the best competitions. I think they are making strides, Treviso beat Perpignan so they are making progress, just not as quickly as some people would like."

As for England, Dallaglio has already hit the headlines this season when he accused the current red rose players of being in awe of their manager Martin Johnson, who slapped him down with suspicious haste. Whatever the truth, Dallaglio was making an important point about the player power and leadership from within which helped England win the World Cup.

"I wouldn't say anything (to the press] that I wouldn't be prepared to say to Martin's face," Dallaglio says. "I think that the team that Martin's picking now is very different from the team he was able to pick in the autumn. When you compare England's progress (since then] it's difficult to do because you are not comparing like for like.

"Confidence and momentum are huge in international rugby and England have got off to a good start.

You expect them to win in Italy, it just depends on by how much and what style of rugby they play. That's not an arrogant statement, that's a fact, they will win. They will potentially come back to Twickenham on 27 February played two, won two and will face an Ireland team that had to play against a very muscular and strong French side in Paris. Momentum can change pretty quickly and I have high hopes for England in the Six Nations.

"(Captain] Steve Borthwick looked good against Wales but England have to develop that leadership because they are not in the same situation as Ireland who have people like (Brian] O'Driscoll, (Paul] O'Connell and (Jamie] Heaslip, all these wonderful players down the spine of the team."

And just for a second you sense that Dallaglio, the most patriotic of Englishmen, is wishing himself ten years younger and sporting the green colours of his beloved mother's family.

To help the team achieve their goal of raising 1 million can go to www.dallagliocycleslam.com and follow the links to donate.