The Premiers Sports pundit on his love of Europe ahead of the Investec Champions Cup
Rugby World Cup and two-time Champions Cup winner Lawrence Dallaglio speaks to Rugby World about his relationship and career in the sport.
From silverware with Wasps to nights on the town with Denis Charvet, Dallaglio has seen and done it all…
What’s your earliest rugby memory?
Playing in an U9s tournament at Twickenham on the width of the pitch for King’s House School. And scoring on the West Stand touchline. I thought, ‘wow, one day I’d love to play here properly’. Years later, I was in the crowd for the England-France game where Philippe Saint-André scored that wondrous try (1991) but England won the Grand Slam. I was in the same West Stand watching, there was a lineout in front of me and the noise was so loud, the atmosphere so intense, and you could almost touch Brian Moore as he was throwing the ball in. He had to ask for the call three times because of the noise. That match defined me wanting to take my rugby seriously.
Related: 2003 RWC documentary
Who was your rugby hero?
Dean Richards, Peter Winterbottom, Mike Teague, Mick Skinner were the gang I wanted to be involved in. I was drawn to the back row.
Do you have a match-day routine at Premier Sports?
You’re supposed to have one but then a snotty little press officer ruins it by saying you can’t do this or do that! So you learn to be flexible.
2024 Guinness Six Nations Championship Round 1, Orange Velodrome, Marseille, France 2/2/2024
France vs Ireland
France Defence Coach Shaun Edwards
Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Ben Brady
Lawrence Dallaglio: ‘Punditry is a team game and it’s about sharing your opinions’
Any players you see becoming a good pundit?
Like any great team, it evolves. You’ve seen Dan Biggar coming in. A pundit’s role is to take the audience into the minds of players and coaches and to explain it in layman’s terms. The guys in decision-making positions, the nines and tens, are natural speakers. Punditry is a team game and it’s about sharing your opinions. Sometimes less is more.
Where does the Champions Cup rank for you?
Outside international rugby, this is the one. Seeing the best players up against each other is very special. I like the scarcity of the Champions Cup. You don’t get many opportunities in it – there isn’t an incessant home-and-away format. You have to be at your very best from the start.
Related: How to watch the Champions Cup
Who’s your tip for this season’s competition?
The French have dominated it for years and it’s hard to look past them. I tipped Bath last year and they let me down spectacularly! I think Bath and Northampton represent the best chance outside of France. Leinster are always in the discussion and Munster seem to have got their act together.
Unlikeliest place you’ve bumped into a player?
What, that I can talk about?! I walked into a restaurant in Rome and saw Ange Capuozzo having dinner with his mother. She was probably telling him off, like my mum used to.
Who’s your favourite Champions Cup player?
I’ve been following the Willis brothers for some time. Jack and Tom were at Wasps and I’m very proud of what they’ve achieved. I talk to Jack regularly. There are teams you like. And his team (Toulouse) is one we all like. We were coached at Wasps by Pierre Villepreux back in the day when on tour in Saint-Jean-de-Luz. It’s just an iconic team.
Jack Willis of Stade Toulousain carries the ball upfield (Getty Images)
What’s the best place you’ve visited through rugby?
We’ve had some epic games in Europe. Like Perpignan in 2004. Their coach was under pressure and his line in the paper was, “There’s going to be blood on the pitch”. And it was lively, a bearpit. They needed a bonus point to qualify, we just had to win. There were 27 citings in the match and I played second-row for 20 minutes. We won comfortably (34-6) and got a standing ovation from their fans.
‘Shaun Edwards is a special human who you only see the value of in that intimate environment’
Which three players would you invite to a dinner party?
You’re asking someone who’s half-Italian to only invite three people to dinner! Denis Charvet is one. A beautiful man and a lot of fun. I played in a sevens tournament with him and asked him to bring along a player from France. He turned up with this good-looking guy and I said to Denis, “I don’t recognise him, who is that?” And he’d never played rugby. He was the guy in the Stella Artois advert who’s on the roof banging in tiles! I’d also have Jason Leonard to my dinner as he spans the course of my career… in fact, everyone’s career! He’s one of my great mates. And Shaun Edwards. He’s a special human who you only see the value of in that intimate environment. He’s very funny.
Read more: Everything you should know about Shaun Edwards
London Wasps’ number 8 and captain Lawrence Dallaglio (C) holds the trophy as teammates celebrate after winning the Heineken European Cup (Getty Images)
What’s your best memory from playing?
In Europe, beating Toulouse at Twickenham, with that last-minute try, was iconic. We had a budget of three and a half million, Toulouse had one of 15 million euros. So it was David against Goliath. And David won.
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