Dallaglio tips Cipriani to stop the rot at Wasps

Cipriani is set to signal the end of his painful rehabilitation from an horrendous ankle injury by playing for Wasps against Bath at Wycombe on Wednesday and Dallaglio knows exactly what it has taken to allow the England No10 to return a month early.

Dallaglio did the same in 2005 after breaking his ankle on the Lions tour to New Zealand. He gave Cipriani advice and encouragement, as the brightest star in the English game pushed himself to the limits and now he is set to face Pacific Barbarians, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand on successive weekends in November.

Dallaglio said: "I am a big fan of Danny's and have tried to impart some of my experience to him during this period. He is a welcome addition to any team and it will be big lift to Wasps and England to have him at fly-half.

"It is wonderful news for Martin Johnson [the England team manager] and while there is no need to rush Danny right back into things, he is a player who wants to get into the thick of the action. His return makes England more dangerous as a team.

"Wasps have had a poor start by their own high standards but no one is pushing the panic button at the club.

"We lost five of our first seven games last season and ended up with a trophy which said Guinness Premiership Champions' and people should not write us off so quickly.

"Wasps operate best when under intense pressure and are a very dangerous side."

The former England captain was supremely confident that Cipriani would make a successful return, having experienced at first-hand the specialist rehabilitation programme operated at Wasps, who face Leicester tomorrow on the back of three successive league defeats.

Dallaglio said: "There are three things required to make a successful return from the kind of surgery that Danny and I have undergone.

"Firstly, you need a surgeon of the highest quality to do the operation, then the rehabilitation and aftercare has to be top drawer, which is what happens at Wasps with Danny also being helped enormously by [athletics coach] Margot Wells, and finally a player needs total dedication to undertake the challenge of battling back to full fitness.

"Less than 24 hours after the operation, Danny was ready to take all of that on and showed real determination to get back. Yes, he does enjoy the lifestyle of a successful sportsman but Danny also has incredible dedication and is prepared to put in the hard work."

Dallaglio, now an associate director of Wasps, will miss Cipriani's comeback because he will be involved in a gruelling eight-day charity cycle ride in France aimed at raising £250,000 for the rugby players' charity, The PRA Benevolent Fund, and premature babies' charity, Bliss.

This demanding challenge, which starts tomorrow, comes a week after Dallaglio played a central role in the Help for Heroes match at Twickenham which raised more than £1.3million to help injured service personnel recover with the aid of a new swimming pool and other facilities at Headley Court, in Surrey.

He said: "When you retire from top-class sport, you do miss the adrenalin surge but I have been fortunate to be involved in an amazing day at Twickenham last Saturday and now I am off on a 930km bike ride from Biarritz to Perpignan.

"It will be, quite literally, an uphill battle and while the knees and ankles took a hammering during my playing career, this time it's the heart and lungs as we will be heading up some ferocious mountains."

To donate to the Pyrenees Cycle Challenge in support of the PRA Benevolent Fund and Bliss, please visit www.justgiving.com/lawrencedallaglio