Dallaglio is not giving up on World Cup

"I don't think England can afford to shut the door on anyone, to be perfectly honest," the Wasps captain said in a declaration of intent aimed at defying the odds once more and making his third World Cup come September.

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"I still have ambitions at the very highest level. The best way I can do that is to play well in the biggest club games of the season which are about to unfold."

Last month, after the Six Nations had passed him by, Dallaglio considered retiring from the Test arena for the second time in three years.

Out of form and out of the national squad, he admitted that England, through a policy of rejuvenating their back row, had 'moved in a different direction' under head coach Brian Ashton.

The World Cup is now back on the ex-captain's agenda. Galvanised by the rediscovery of some of the old swagger, Dallaglio has forced Wasps to change their all-England back row and revert to business as usual in their attempt to regain the European Cup at Twickenham next month three years after winning it there against Toulouse.

A late-season surge has restored the Londoner's self-belief that, perhaps the international stage has not seen the last of him after all.

Whatever his fate, there is no doubt now that he will play on for at least one more season at Wasps, taking him through almost to the age of 36.

"I'm certainly not going to be retiring at the end of this season, whether I go to the World Cup or not," he said. "I believe I have a big part to play at the club both as a player and in helping the development of young players."

Dallaglio's enduring role captaincy of Wasps in Sunday's European Cup semi-final against Northampton at Coventry is an achievement in itself given that England picked three of his team-mates in their back row against Wales last month - James Haskell, Tom Rees and Joe Worsley.

Ironically, a win will eliminate all four from England's two Tests in South Africa starting in Bloemfontein on May 26.

"I'm not thinking of the bigger picture at this stage," he said. "That will sort itself out by playing well in the next few weeks.

"I feel I am playing better than I had been. My performances will do the talking for me. I'm playing well enough for the club to give me the responsibility of the captaincy in the European quarter-final and, without counting my chickens, I will probably get that responsibility again on Sunday.

"My focus is on a big finish, to show consistency and quality in my performance. I am delighted to be involved in big games at the business end of the season. I could not imagine playing rugby with nothing to play for."

Newcastle are poised to announce a major coup today by confirming their capture of Carl Hayman, arguably the mightiest tighthead prop in the world game as the anchor of the All Blacks' scrum.

The Kingston Park club believe his post-World Cup arrival on Tyneside will give them the forward power to make the most of their clutch of international backs, Jonny Wilkinson, Toby Flood, Jamie Noon and Mathew Tait.

Hayman, 28 this year and at the peak of his power, is one of several All Blacks cashing in their chips once the World Cup finishes in October. Scrum half Byron Kelleher has signed for Agen, hooker Anton Oliver is heading towards Toulon and Crusaders lock Chris Jack to Saracens.

Italy coach Pierre Berbizier is to stand down at the end of the World Cup after 30 months in charge.

The former France captain and coach, who led his country to a third place win over England at the 1995 tournament, will be touted in some quarters to succeed his bitter rival, Bernard Laporte who retires after eight years as coach of France.

JPR Williams is the youngest of five candidates standing for election as president of the Welsh Rugby Union following Keith Rowlands' sudden death last November.

As well as the 58-year-old Lion, the candidates also include two other internationals, Dennis Hughes and Tony Gray, plus former WRU secretary Denis Gethin and ex-chairman Glanmore Griffiths.